Christmas Fears
by MBSAVfan1
Summary: It seems or favorite sea faring pirates had Christmas wishes too when they were young. But thanks to a certain someone's older siblings, their dreams are crushed, getting them to believe they won't have Christmas. So, devastated, they set off to change what is to come to them. But will they return home safely? After all, the North Pole isn't exactly the safest place in the world...
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, it's me. And before I say anything else, yes, I know this is way too early. I'm sorry if you don't like Christmas-y stuff before Christmas, I understand, and I'm sorry. But I knew that if I didn't post it right away, I'd forget to do it before Christmas. I'm forgetful that way. So bear with me, please.**

**This was kinda inspired by laughs4life story 'A Ragtag Bunch', which I highly recommend. It's so cute! Anyway, I've been wanting to do some kinda Christmas story for a while, but I could never come up with anything. But combined with that, seeing 'A Mammoth Christmas' (cute short film, BTW) for the first time, and reading that adorable story about the pirates, this popped my mind. Enjoy.**

**I don't own Ice age (if I did, there would be a short concerning the pirates and what happened to them after the 4****th**** film by now).**

"Hey! Gimme that!" a little voice protested. A young kangaroo joey the age of five stood in between her six older brothers on a snowy ground. "Give'i back!" she jumped for her scarf again, but Aaiden, the oldest of the six brothers, simply laughed and tossed it to Tadao. "Ah need tha!"

"Oh yeah?" Jemal taunted. "An why's tha?"

She shivered for a moment. "Iss' cold out 'ere! Ah'll catch-" she let out a small sneeze. "Ah'll _catch_ a cold! Give it!"

Rajay laughed and spun the sparkly piece of finely spun cotton between his fingers. "Oh boo hoo! It'll jus' give ye 'nother reas'n ta stay 'ome with mum, like ya always do! Ya shoul' be thankin us!"

"Ah do no'!"

"Then why was ya in 'er pouch all las' week?" Aaiden teased.

"Ah ha' strep throat! Whadda ess'pect?!"

"…Yer point?"

"Gimme!" he just laughed and threw it to Jemal again. The little girl crossed her arms. They obviously weren't going to give it back. But she needed it, or her father would never let her go play. In fact, she'd been on her way to play with her friends when her nasty, bullying big brothers snatched her scarf. What to do…

She suddenly grinned, getting an idea.

Her golden eyes suddenly filled with tears. She sniffled and gave a tiny whimper, lower lip beginning to tremble, and the teenagers all directed their eyes down to the little girl, stiffening. She sucked in a big breath. "Don't. You. _Dare_." Aaiden hissed.

"MUMMY! DADDY!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, starting to cry. She put her face in her hands, sobbing, while her brothers hurriedly tried to get her to stop.

There was the sound of approaching feet hopping in perfect rhythm, and two of her siblings being pushed aside. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her shaking, shivering form and lift her into the air. She put her arms around whoever it was and buried her face in the crook of their neck. "Boys." The stern voice of their father growled from beside her, indicating it was in fact her mother that was cradling her. "Wha' did ye do ta 'er?"

"Nothin dad! We swear!" the eldest's voice replied.

"L-Lia!" she choked out accusingly. "They stealed mah scarf mummy!" she shivered again and sniffled. "Ah'm gett'n all chill'eh an gonna ge' sick."

Her mother, Lalli, sighed. "Boys, give yer sista 'er scarf back."

"Wha… why d'ya always 'sume wha sheh says i' true?" Jemal's voice demanded.

Lalli gave her second youngest son a pointed look, like '_Really? Are we _really_ going to discuss this?_'

He sighed. "Fine." He took out the sparkly cotton and handed it over. She happily excepted, wrapping it around her neck snugly. She smiled as it glimmered in the sun, and her mother kissed her forehead.

"There ya go Sheila." She set her down again. "All nice an' coz'eh." She patted her head, then nudged her in the opposite direction. "Now run 'long. Go an' play."

"Ok!" she chirped, hopping away. "Bye mummy! Bye daddy! Love you!"

"Love ye too Princess!" her father called. He sighed. "How old is sheh again?"

Lalli smacked her husbands arm. "Blayke!"

"Wha?"

She sighed and rubbed her temples. "Sheh's five now. Ya know tha."

He sighed. "Ah know." He watched her go sadly, meeting up with her odd group of friends. "Ar' lit'l girls grow'n up."

"Yeh… too bad." Rajay spoke from behind them. "I liked 'er when sheh was a baby. Quiet and always had 'er mouth shut. She was no troub'l then."

"Rajay!"

He shrugged innocently. "Wha?"

Their mother frowned. "Jus fer tha, you can 'elp me put up the Christmas dec'rations."

"Aw mum!"

"Now. Inside. March." She pointed at their cave door for emphasis. He grumbled darkly under his breath but did as he was told anyway. He would get his sister for this…

His aforementioned, considerably younger sibling was just meeting up with her friends. "'Ey mates!" she greeted cheerily as she bounced up.

"Hi Raz!" Squint, undoubtedly the smallest of the group of seven, responded. He appeared on her shoulder, just a blur of color, thanks to his ultimate rabbit speed and agility.

"I'm so excited!" Flynn exclaimed. "Only three more days till it's Chrissy-mas! Yay!"

"Thas _Christmas_, meathead." Raz corrected playfully. "An' Ah know! Ar' firs' Christmas _t'gether_! Ain't i' great?!"

"Yeah!" Gupta agreed. "Gonna be so much fun! Presents and candy- and Santa's coming!"

"Santa!" they all cheered. That was definitely the best part of the holiday. Santa came and left presents. And sugar plums. And delicious peppermint bark. So pretty much every child's dream. Candy and presents.

"So, _mon amis_" Silas began. "What is it that you hope for?"

"Somethin I can prank my sisters with!" that was Squint. He was the 'baby' of his family; he was the youngest of his mothers sixteenth, and final, litter. And, to make it all worse, he was the _only boy_. That's right. He had seventy nine older sisters. It sometimes made Raz appreciate that she had only six siblings. "Ooh! And some carrot cake!"

"Hmm… maybe some new paint." Gupta responded. "It's hard to find colored berries here." He liked to paint, often making tiny intricate designs all around his family's burrow. One wall was covered in teeny pictures, so it was colored brightly, but you had to get really close to see what any of them were. "And carving wood!" he liked to use his sharp claws to make wood into different things. Unfortunately, much of the wood in their part of the world was no good for carving; either far to old and crumbly, or just too hard.

"I want one a' those swing thingies my neighbors been telling me about." Gunner answered. He, as an ape, appreciated being high up in the trees. It was no surprise he might want something that had to do with the tree.

"I want a swimmin pool!" Flynn chirped. "That'll be lotsa fun!" they didn't bother pointing out he lived very close to the lake.

"What about you, mademoiselle?" Silas asked Raz, the only female.

"Ah'm thinkin I wan' a trampoline. How fun woul tha be?"

"A _trampoline_?" Squint asked incredibly. "But you bounce everywhere you go everyday!"

"Firs' of all" she began irritably. "Ah don' _bounce_, I hop. Two, iss' no' like Ah gotta choice. An' three-" she stopped. She needed a third reason… "It'll be some'n mah brotha's won't be 'lowed ta touch. It'll be jus mine."

"Ok…"

"So Silas." She said, changing the subject. "Whaddo _you_ want?"

He suddenly looked shy. "Well I… I haven't exactly decided yet, _soeur_." He sometimes referred to them as his brothers and sister; they were the closest he had, considering he was an only hatchling. The others claimed him lucky, all having to deal with annoying brothers and sisters, but he wasn't so sure.

"_WHAT_?!"

"But you-" the badger was cut off.

"It's a good thing too." A new voice piped up, and they turned. Gunner's older twin brother and sister, Lily and Jake, hung upside down there, by their feet.

"Whadda mean Sheila?" Raz asked the blond female.

"I _mean_" she started dramatically. "It's a good thing, cuz then he won't be so disappointed."

They all simultaneously tilted their heads to the right, and spoke the same confused word. "Huh?"

"She means he won't be so disappointed." Jake started where his sister left off. "Cuz _Santa's. Not. Coming._"

They all gasped in horror. "Wha- Whaddo mean he's not coming?" Squint asked, fidgeting nervously on their marsupial companion's shoulder. Raz hated when he got like that.

"He's not coming, cuz your all on the _naughty_ _list_." Lily chuckled.

"The _what_ list?" their little brother asked in confusion.

"The naughty list." The brown furred teen repeated. "It's a list that Santa makes. When kids're bad, he writes their name down. And then they have till Christmas to be good again and reverse it all, and get their names on the nice list."

Silas swallowed. He didn't like where this was going. Even thought he was unsure where it was going. "What… what will happen if your name is on such a list come _Noel_ time?"

"Then you don't. Get. Christmas." They finished together. The children shared scared looks, eyes wide.

"A-And…" Gupta wasn't sure he wanted to know the rest, but felt it important.

"And _your_ names are on there!"

They all gasped. "But why?!" Flynn cried in despair.

"Cuz _we_ know Santa. And every time you guys did something bad, or mean, we told him. You've been on the naughty list _all year_." They all gasped. "There's no way you'll be able to undo it all by Christmas."

Jake laughed and continued for his twin. "So none of you little brats are getting _anything_ for Christmas!"

"N-Nothing?" Squint's voice shook.

They both grinned. "_Nothing_." Then they swung off into the trees, laughing, leaving the devastated children alone.

They shared glances through tear filled eyes, one phrase going through each five year old mind. '_We're not getting Christmas_…'

**So… what'd you think? Like I said before, I know it's too early to be posting a Christmas story, but I don't trust myself not to forget about it. My mind's one of those all-over-the-place ones. Please tell me what you think.**

**As you can probably tell me now if you've read any of my other stories, I love the pirates. And, well, I just couldn't resist this! Please review!**

**P.S. ICE AGE 4 COMES OUT ON DVD IN NINE (almost eight considering the time) days! WOO HOO!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, I'm back! Before anything else, warning: this is probably going to seem a little sad and depressing for a Christmas story. Don't worry. It gets happier. Eventually. I'm just not sure **_*****_** when… review please!**

**I don't own Ice Age**

**Oh, and I forgot to mention earlier. Dedicated to laughs4life, whose story gave me the inspiration for this. Hope you like it!**

"The naughty list? _Really_?" Jake asked his twin. "Was that the best you could do?"

"Oh chill out." Lily said, lounging lazily on a branch. "And it wasn't even my idea. Some mammoth came up with it ta scare his daughter inta bein good. 'Parently, it worked."

"Seriously?"

"Yup."

He was quiet for a few moments. "Ya think the squirts'll believe it?"

She burst out laughing. "You kidding? Not a chance! Little kids are foolable, but not like that. Even _they_ wouldn't believe something that dumb."

He had to agree, the idea sounded pretty silly. He'd played along, having heard vague rumors. And besides, like anyone around here knew Santa. Ridiculous. While they cackled between themselves, they failed to notice the angry stomping footsteps approaching them… until something slammed viciously into their perch, nearly knocking them down. "What the-?!" Lily exclaimed, reclaiming her balance and saving herself from a nasty plummet that would've no doubt left her bruised.

They both looked down to meet the faces of their little brothers friends older siblings. "Hey." They both greeted.

"_Hey_?!" Aadien, lowering himself back to his feet from kicking the tree, spat. "Thas it? Jus '_hey'_?"

"Do have any idea what you did?" Crystal, a midnight black rabbit with big green eyes asked. "Our little brother just came home bawling his eyes out! Something about not getting Christmas…?" they all gave them pointed, accusatory looks. "Anything you'd like to admit?"

"Well…" they shared looks. They were going to get caught eventually; the kids were no doubt tattling already, so why bother denying? "Yeah. But come on. You've gotta admit that was funny!"

"Thas no' wha were mad bout Sheila." Rajay answered.

Now they were confused. "Huh?"

He suddenly grinned. "How couldja come up with some'n so brill'ant and no' tell us?!" so… they weren't mad? "Ah mean, this is perf'ct. We can get 'er back fer gett'n us in troub'l this morning." His brothers nodded in agreement.

Sabrina, who was sister of Crystal, white and speckled with black, silver, and caramel spots, with rich golden-brown eyes, nodded her agreement. "And he got us busted for tasting moms cake. It needed way more sugar!"

"Wait…" Jake glanced around at them. "You're serious?"

"Heck yeah we are!"

"Great…" he smiled mischievously. "Here's what we'll do."

-Meanwhile-

Elsewhere, in an underground cave-burrow in the side of a large hill, a rabbit mother desperately tried to calm her eightieth child. The poor boy was heartbroken, crying his eyes out, shaking with sobs as he clung to his mother. Squint was so shaken up he couldn't talk; hence not being able to tell who had done what to upset him so.

Julie, brown furred and blue eyes, gently rocked her one and only son. What could have him so sad? He was crying worse than she'd ever seen; arms squeezing her limply, trembling, face buried in her now soaked fur. "Oh sweetie, shh…" she tried for the millionth time to sooth him. "Honey please tell me what's wrong." No answer. Just more sobs and a slight hiccupping noise from crying so hard. She rubbed her precious child's back and tried to console him, but he would have none of it. He was too upset. If anything, the telling him it would all be ok, whatever he was sad over, seemed to make him cry more.

Because he knew it wouldn't happen. Being on the naughty list meant no Christmas. No Christmas, no holiday. And no holiday, no happiness. No happiness, and nothing would ever get better. He really saw no reason not to be upset, or stop crying. He didn't even care that he probably looked like a wimp, blubbering and carrying on in despair.

No Christmas… the words haunted him over and over, each time a thousand times worse. _No Christmas. No Christmas. No Christmas_…

"Oh baby… please." She couldn't bear seeing her precious, treasured son in such a depressed state. "Please stop crying." Her voice cracked, making him finally look up. Through watery, burning eyes, he managed to make out tears in his mothers eyes as well.

"Wh…" he choked on a sob but still managed to speak. "Wh-Why're _you_ cryin mama?" surely _she_ wasn't on the naughty list too! She was always so gentle, and sweet, and nice to everybody! What could she be upset about?

"I can't stand seeing you like this." She murmured. "Baby, please tell mommy what's wrong." He looked hesitant. "Then maybe I can help fix it."

He sniffled. "W-Well-" he was cut off by many of his sisters bursting into their burrow.

"Hey mom! What's he so upset about? Can we burrow Squint for a second? Kay thanks!" Mikayla, more commonly known as Mickey, said it all so fast, it sounded like one big word, snatching her little brother off her mothers lap and rushing out before another word could be said.

"Hey! Put-" she clamped a paw over his mouth, and nothing more was said.

He found himself plopped down, rather harshly, on a patch of rough, dead-ish grass, the cold snow biting through his fur like a sabers fangs. His friends all sat around him, looking up at their older siblings, faces tear stained, eyes red and bloodshot. They'd obviously been crying pretty hard too.

"Wha" Raz's words were choked. "Whas th' big Ah'dea? Whatch we doin 'ere?" they didn't like the way they were looking at them and forming a circle, baring over them threateningly, grinning madly, eyeing them like vultures did a fresh kill. Menacing and with a secret, sick desire.

"Oh nothing." Rosalynn, Flynn's big sister, who was sharper than a cactus quill, surprisingly, said. "Just wanted to let you little pups know… we just talked to Santa!"

"You did?!" they all asked excitedly, sitting up straight, looking overjoyed. "Whaddid he say?!" her brother asked.

"That he doesn't agree with us." Anjali, Gupta's oldest sister, said, tapping her claws together in a sinister way with a slightly maniacal grin. "You're not bad kids."

"We're not?!" maybe it was all just a mean prank after all! Wow… it wasn't like any of them to actually admit they did something like that. Or make them feel better about it either.

"What's the catch?" Gunner asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. He didn't trust his troublesome older siblings. Or any of the other bullying teenagers for that matter.

"Catch? No catch." Crystal said all too sweetly. "You're not bad kids… you're the worst kids he's ever seen!" they all burst out laughing as they each got glassy eyes again.

"You're the meanest-" Gupta's voice caught as he forced back a sob. "Meanest big sister… _ever_!" Anjali looked taken aback. He'd never said anything like that to her before.

"Yeah." Raz sniffed and rubbed one eye. "Why're ya always s' mean ta us?" her ears drooped and her head lowered. "Yer theh wors' big brother's eva."

Before they could get up to go home, however, Jemal put his foot out in front of her. "Oh, an one m're thing Sheila. Ye tell _any'n_ bout this lit'l conversation, yer all gonna ge'it." He held up a threatening fist. "Ya got it?" they all nodded hurriedly, terrified, huddling together. "Good." And they all backed away, going off to do who knows what.

Once they cleared off, the kids didn't bother getting up to head to their homes. "Ah hate them guys." Raz grumbled to herself, reaching up to rub her sore eyes. They were burning and stinging, far beyond agitated from crying so much.

"Come now _soeur_." Silas said. "You can't possibly mean that."

"Yeah, well, Ah do. Th've been noth'n bu' big bullies since Ah firs' got 'ere. They hate mah guts."

Before more could be said on the 'sibling hating' matter, although some secretly agreed with her; their older siblings had picked on them since before they could walk; Flynn spoke up. "Too bad we can' go see mista' Santa. Then maybe he wouldn't think we're so bad."

They all giggled, sighing wistfully. "Yeah. Too bad…"

After a little while of staring up at peaceful clouds… "Wait a minute!" Gunner spoke up. "That's actually a pretty good idea!"

They all pivoted to look at him incredulously. "Huh?"

"Well why don't we? It can't be that hard!"

"_No'_ _tha_ _hard_?!" Raz repeated with disbelief. "He lives-"

"A few miles north! Think about it! You guys came, what, a few _thousand_ miles to come here, right?" he asked the marsupial. She had to nod, agreeing. She and her family had hopped a few thousand miles to get to America, her parents having decided that the hot, dusty Australian Outback, which had been suffering a severe drought, wasn't a proper place for Raz to grow up. So they'd moved north, where it was wetter, with more vegetation for food.

"And you guys swam, what, a few hundred thousand?" Flynn shrugged. He didn't really know, only that it had been months worth of swimming. And he appreciated the warm waters south of his arctic birthplace; he liked having the feeling in all his body, not being numb from icy water.

"Compared with that, it's like… I dunno, easy! Like flying for Silas!" well when he put it like _that_… Silas _was_ an excellent flyer.

"And it's our only shot at getting Christmas."

"He makes many good points, _mon_ _amis_."

They looked around at each other, and slowly started to grin. "But wait…" Squint's smile dropped off his face. "Mom'll never let me go!"

"Oh…" they hadn't thought of that, but all had to agree. No sane parents would ever let their children go on a journey like that, and certainly not alone. And their parents were extra protective of them, all being the 'baby's of their families.

"Then we'll just have to sneak out!"

"_When_?" Silas demanded. "The only time they do not have us under constant super vision is when we sleep!"

"Then that's when we'll have to go!"

"Aren' ye fergett'n somethin?" the only girl asked the rabbit.

"What?" what could he be missing?

"We can' see in theh dark! How're weh supposed to get round?"

"Um… oh!" Silas remembered something his mother had once shown him. Something beautiful and magical… and bright. "The Aurores Boreales! The Northern Lights! We can follow those!"

"…I thought you can only see those in Alaska."

"Alright… then we'll catch some fireflies and follow the Northern Star!"

Nobody could find a fault in the plan, once it was all explained. They managed to bribe the fireflies that frolicked in the meadows after dark, whom they sometimes managed to glimpse if they could keep their eyes open past bedtime. Those little light up bugs were suckers for nectar berries.

So the plan was set out. Get the fireflies to wake them up, silently, of course, then lead them for a while, until the sun came up. Then they could just keep going in that direction. After all, how hard could it be to walk in a straight line? And if it, somehow, turned out to be difficult, well, Silas wouldn't tell them what he knew. But he did have a backup plan. He knew the Northern Lights could be seen almost anywhere, but didn't want to raise any more questions.

"So that's what we'll do. Grab some food. We leave at midnight."

**So did you like it? If you're going to ask, I purposefully made their older brothers and sisters mean and maybe a little over-cruel, I know. Don't worry, it'll get better. Eventually. Please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys. Sorry if all these super quick updates seem strange. But I'm just a bit motivated, and I'll bet your probably thinking 'shouldn't she be in school?'. No? well I'll explain anyway.**

**See, I got all my work for today in Digital Media done yesterday, so now I have most of the period free. So I brought my hard drive, that has all my stories copied on it, to school, and decided to work on it now. So… tell me what you think.**

The kids returned home after their discussion. They behaved as usual; eating their dinner quietly and trying to block out their siblings ever-relentless teasing and taunting. Then after a quick bedtime story, it was time for sleep.

Joyeeta went to her youngest sons room, seeing him sitting on the edge of his leaf bed. "Gupta?" she called over to him from the doorway, and he turned questioningly, although he knew very well what she was there for. "It's time for bed."

As he laid down, she walked over and pulled the thick cottony blanket up to his chin. "Comfy?"

He nodded, feeling guilty. Even if he hadn't snuck away yet, he still felt bad. "Mommy…"

"Yes sweetheart?"

"You-" he swallowed down her nervousness and fear. "Y-You'l always love me… right?"

She looked very startled. "Of course! Where did you get the idea that I wouldn't?"

He shook his head. "No reason. Just… making sure." He sighed again, heart beating faster with fear. "No matter what, right?"

She smiled softly. "No matter what." He stifled a yawn with one paw, and her loving smile widened, gazing at her baby with adoring eyes. "Go to sleep now. You need your rest." She bent down and nuzzled his face, planting a kiss on his forehead.

"Ok…" she got up. "Mama?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

She smiled. "I love you too. Now got to sleep." And she shook the small torch, embedded in the dirt wall, out, enveloping her child in darkness, completely unaware of the regretful tears leaking from his eyes. In guilty despair, he turned on his side and curled up, pulling the covers over his head.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered as her footsteps got far away. "I'm so sorry…" and he was asleep.

-Later-

The group of fireflies hovered outside the burrow, arguing in a chorus of high pitched and chatters that none but they understood, arguing about who should have to go inside. Normally, had a little kid offered them nectar berries, they would've 'excepted', taken the fruit and never come back. But those little tykes were a lot smarter than they looked, with the big innocent eyes and manipulatively sweet smiles.

They'd agreed to give the insects their berries when, and only when, they began to lead them north, considering they couldn't see in the dark. They would get their rewards when the sun came up and they could see clearly.

Eventually getting tired of delaying, knowing they might be deducted for being late, one of the smaller ones rolled his eyes and fluttered silently into the hole in the ground. She passed many rooms, glancing inside. And on the sixteenth or something room, she found him. The young badger cub was still sleeping soundly, tucked under his warm blankets, a sleepy smile on his face, indicating good dreams.

Wasting no time, she landed on his nose and started jumping up and down. It took a few minutes, but he eventually woke. He sat up slowly, rubbing his tired eyes, which crossed to look at the tiny glowing bug on his face.

He stopped at his parents room, where he could just make out the silhouettes of his parents curled up together on their bed, completely unsuspecting. "Please don't worry." He murmured nearly silently, barely enough for even he to hear. "I'll be back soon… I hope."

The little firefly squeaked at him and headed for the door. He followed, making sure to keep his footsteps nearly silent. He was almost to the door, when- "Gupta?" he turned, eyes wide. Krishna, the only decent one of his sisters, stood in the doorway to the kitchen, holding a rock cup. "What're you doing up?"

"I- um…"

She coughed slightly. She'd been suffering a bit of a 'pre-Christmas' cold for the past few days. He'd completely forgotten she liked to get herself some tea in the middle of the night to help with the annoying cough that kept her awake.

"Well?"

"I- please don't tell mom!" he begged. "Please Krissy, don't tell! If she finds out, she'll never let us go!"

"_Us_?" she inquired. Oops.

"Um, well we…"

"You're sneaking off to do who-knows-what. Something to getcha off the naughty list, right?"

His jaw dropped. "Do you _read minds_ or something?"

She managed a weak, hoarse laugh. "No."

"So will you will tell? Please don't!"

"Well…" that would be the responsible thing to do. But she didn't want to crush her baby brother's dreams or break his heart. Well… any more than the others had.

"Please Krissy?! We want Christmas _so_ bad!"

How could she say no to that? "Alright. I'll stall. But no promises that they won't find out."

"Yes!" he hugged her, and she carefully set her cup of tea down. She wrapped her arms around her baby brother, smiling, although trying not to breathe on him too much.

"You're welcome. Now go on." He smiled widely up at her.

"Thank you Krissy! Thank you!" he stood on his tiptoes to kiss her cheek for half a second, before rushing for the door. She smiled tiredly.

"You better bring me a sugar plum!"

"Kay! I promise!" and he was out the door.

They met in a moonlit meadow with a perfect view of the sky, each of his friends accompanied by firefly escorts as well. "Everyone grab what they need?"

They all nodded. "Food, mah scarf, meh brotha's fav'rite Christmas orn'ment-"

"What's that for?"

She shrugged. "Just wanted ta get back a'im."

The insect, who she taken to calling Glowbot (even she didn't know where she came up with it. It just sounded kinda cool, she supposed), chirped at her from her shoulder. "Alrigh. Les' go. These lit'l buggers won' stick round fereva." She pulled out the pretty painted pinecone and laid it down on a nearby rock.

So they set off, following the big, bright star in the sky. It was nearly impossible to miss, unless you closed your eyes. They went along, the main swarm of fireflies flying up ahead, but the little ones that had come to retrieve them for the journey stuck to their shoulders. They didn't know why.

It had been bout five hours before they noticed the sky lightening. Just slightly; it was still dark and it was now more of a midnight blue than a raven black, but still. They kept going for another fifteen minutes, before they decided it time for a small break. All practically collapsed gladly, leaning against a tree, trying not to let their eyes slip closed. They had only got half a night of sleep; they were exhausted.

After sitting for a while, trying to get their feet to stop hurting, they forced themselves up again. They now had only two days till Christmas morning; the sun was beginning to rise. Just the tiniest tip of it was visible, but still. So that left them a little under forty eight hours to make it there and prove to Santa that they weren't bad kids.

After the sun had risen fully, the fireflies got uncooperative, demanding their pay so they could go back. "Urgh… fine!" Raz dug into her pouch and threw down about thirty of the little black berries, a whole feast to the fireflies, down in the snow. They happily worked together to gather them and left.

"Good grief." She grumbled. A small squeak suddenly caught her ears, and a tiny spot of green became visible before her. "Glowbot?"

"Sparkle?" that's what Gupta had called his.

"Lightning?" apparently, their little escorts had grown fond of them the past seven hours. They each had one sitting on their shoulders, squeaking adoringly.

"Al… right then." It looked like they had seven more members on this quest now.

**How was that? Didja like it? Sorry, I just had to make one likeable original character. Review please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I am on fire today! This is like my quickest fanfic ever!**

The rabbit family were all awoken by a shrill, ear splitting scream. All seventy nine youths leapt out of bed, eyes wide, and the father of the home, Nathan, fell out of bed. He jumped up and rushed to his only sons room, the source of his wife's screams.

"Julie? Julie! What's wrong?!" he tumbled into the room with most of his daughters behind. The rabbit was on her knees, paws on the side of her head and gripping savagely at her ears, eyes wide and dilated with disbelief and horror, mouth wide open, breath coming in audible, shuddering, terrified gasps. "Julie! What's-"

"He's gone!" she sobbed, beginning to cry. "He's gone! My baby's gone!" he gently pulled her to her feet and embraced her now shaking form. "My precious baby- where is he?!"

"I… I don't know." He was puzzled. Squint would never go outside when they weren't awake. He always asked permission. Always. Even though the answer was always 'Of course sweetie' from his mother, or 'Knock yourself out squirt', from is father, he always asked. So where could he be?

He wasn't hiding, he was sure of that. If he was, upon hearing his mother scream and/or begin to cry, he'd of rushed right out to reassure her and apologize. But no such thing happened.

Crystal and Sabrina shared looks. Was it… no. It couldn't of been their fault. He was upset, but not to the point that he'd run off… right? Although they felt a little bad, they thought it best not to jump to conclusions and give their mother an emotional breakdown not just of sadness and worry, but of anger as well. "Well… maybe he just went off to play with the other kids. You always say yes anyway."

"Yeah." Crystal agreed. "He probably just caught on and decided not to ask."

Julie shifted in her husbands arms and looked over at her daughter. She made a valid-ish point. She _did_ always let him go, and that seemed like a sensible thing to do. So she zipped out before anyone could stop her, the wind rushing past her drying her tears as she ran off to his nearest friends cave. Flynn lived closest.

His mother, Katelynn was near hysterics, while Dilynn tried to calm her down while looking for their cheery, hyper son. Rosalynn stood nearby, twiddling her flippers and keeping her eyes fixed on the ground. Something was up, aside from the obvious. She knew something.

Before she could interrogate her, however, Joyeeta rushed up to her. "Julie!" she gasped from running. "Oh Julie! Tell me you've seen Gupta! We can't find him anywhere!"

She groaned and covered her eyes. Just great! Three of them were missing. This day just couldn't get any worse, could it…?

"Oi! Hey mates!" Blayke hopped up with Lalli in tow. "Tell meh y've seen Razmia! Sheh's disappeared!" he only used Raz's full name when he was in serious panic mode.

"Oh fudge…" she muttered irritably. '_You _had_ to ask, didn't you_?' the bitter side of her conscience yelled. "At least-"

"Mademoiselles, pardon me" Andre, Silas's father, landed on Lalli's shoulder. "But have you seen our son? He seems to missing." Really? Julie wanted to scream. _Really_?!

"Not you too!" Amethyst, Gunner's mom, appeared in an overhead tree. "I can't find him anywhere! I've looked all over!"

"They're _all _gone?" Jake asked, appearing with Lily behind her. They shared looks. Uh oh…

-Elsewhere-

The kids could walk no more. Finding a nice cave, they all collapsed and instantly fell asleep, arranging with their new friends to wake them in a couple hours. It wasn't the soft beds they were used to, but they didn't care. They'd lost a lot of sleep to get far away and make decent progress, and now it was time to make up for at least some of that.

They slept heavily for two and a half hours (the fireflies didn't have it in their tiny hearts to wake them up on time. They just looked so sweet and innocent…), snoring softly and unknowingly curled up together for warmth.

The bugs decided it was time they roused them; otherwise they may be mad for losing precious time. They woke easily enough, yawning and rubbing their eyes. They nibbled at their packed food for about fifteen minutes, knowing they had to make it last.

When they emerged from their cave shelter, stretching out their still tired muscles, Silas noticed something. A large slithering sheet of bright lights weaving across the sky. "Oh…" they were even prettier in the day time, with the pure blue and white backdrop. "Look _mon amis_! The _Aurores Boreales_! The Northern Lights!" he pointed them out, and they all got wide eyes.

"Wow…"

"Iss' all… sparkly." Raz sounded entranced. "Where d'they come fr'm?"

"I don't know. None to for sure, not even Mother." Pain flashed in his grayish blue eyes at the mention of his parents, but he continued all the same. "It is said to be our ancestors, guiding us to our desired destination."

"Um…" Gupta tilted his head, confused. He wasn't even sure what ancestor meant. He _was_ only five. "Alright… Sparkle!" she landed on his finger, warbling curiously. "Good, you're here. So… we just follow them then?"

The French bird shrugged. "I suppose." And they were off again.

As they went along, Raz shivered and hugged her arms. If there was one thing she didn't like about living further north, it was the cold. Australia rarely ever saw snow, and when the fluffy white precipitation did fall, it usually melted upon immediate contact with the ground, or soon after. She still wasn't used to it. Usually whenever she got chilly, her mother would tuck her in her pouch for a little while.

The thought of Lalli made her eyes sting, but she blinked the tears away. They'd be home soon enough. Plus… she didn't want them freezing on her face due to the chilly wind blowing about.

She reached up to her neck and fingered the nearly invisible decoration. It was a tiny spiraling seashell, matching her fur exactly, and so small it almost completely disappeared. Her mother had given it to her on one of her first trips outside the pouch, holding it up for her to see before tying it carefully around her neck. None of her friends ever saw it, considering she almost always had her scarf on, hiding it, and that it had natural camouflage.

Her scarf had been a gift on her fourth birthday, a few days after they arrived at their current home, the day after she met her now closest, most favored companions. Her mother had spent hours kneading and shaping the cotton so it was perfectly smooth, using tiny bits of sparkling dust made from crushed crystalline rocks to make it glimmer. She'd also sprinkled with water that she had boiled rose and lilacs in, making it smell nice. The scent was faded a little, but still there. She loved the simple little garment to death.

She was so caught up in her thoughts and fond memories, she didn't realize what they were all heading towards, until- "Woah!" her feet were suddenly dragged out from under her, and they were all sent tumbling down a hard slope, leaving Glowbot, Lightning, Sparkle, Electro, Aurora, Beam, and Shine to squeak in alarm and flitter after their now unconscious friends.

**I'm terrible to them, aren't I? I'm sorry guys! I don't torture you on purpose! And don't worry, they're ok.**

**Oh! Ice age 4 comes out in exactly one week! Only 7 days! Woo hoo!**

**Extra points to whoever can guess who might make an appearance in the next chapter. Haven't decided yet though.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Jeez, this is the best I've ever updated! Review please!**

**I don't own Ice Age (obviously, or the pirates would have their own movie- or at least a short film or two. Possibly more!). I've already gotten started on chapter 6! I'm on an Ice Age Christmas-y story high or something! Review!**

The teenagers were getting worried. They'd searched the entire perimeter of their little valley. The kangaroos, rabbits, and badgers had gone to look on the ground, searching every place available. Denisha and Andre, Silas's parents, were circling around and around, searching for any clues. Rosalynn had even decided to check the lake to make sure they hadn't drowned, something that made most of the mothers faint upon discussion. The children, excluding Flynn of course, couldn't swim. Amethyst, the only (unfortunately) widow, searched the forest by tree top. Nothing.

With their fathers trying to calm their mothers, the teens broke away from their families. "Oh man…" Lily muttered. "Oh man, oh man, we are so dead!"

"Why?"

"Duh! Don't you get it! _We_ chased them off!"

"What?!" all of them exclaimed. Surely that wasn't true!

"Think about it!" Jake reluctantly agreed. "It's probably cuz'a that prank…"

"Yeh… Ah think we mighta gone a lit'l too far with th' naughty list stuff…" Tadao admitted. "Now…" he turned to look at the rock tunnel that led out of their valley. "Now ar lil sista's out there… all 'lone…"

"Ahem!" Sabrina exclaimed. "Are you forgetting that _our_ baby brothers are missing?!" she demanded, gesturing around at the others.

Her angry eyes softened after a few moments, turning sad and faraway. "Poor thing…" they may have enjoyed picking on them, but… they'd never wanted something like _this_ to happen. She felt her heart clench. Poor Squint… poor kids in general, out there, probably cold and hopelessly lost, most likely hungry and vulnerable to predators- PREDATORS! Oh good grief this was worse than they ever thought!

"What" she gulped audibly. "What if… something got them?"

"L-Like…" Rosalynn didn't like where this was going.

"A saber! Wolf! Leopard! Anything!" they all got looks of absolute horror on their faces.

"Oh my- w-we've gotta do something!"

"What? We have no idea where they are! They could be anywhere by now!"

"Well, um- uh…" Dzoita couldn't think straight when flustered. "Well… think how a kid would!" they all tried it, considering what their siblings might've been feeling when they'd played that prank… and paled considerably.

"Oh no…"

"They wouldn't…"

"But what else makes sense?"

"That's suicide! They'll freeze to death or something!"

"We can talk about it on the way! We have to go!"

"Wait!" Crystal held her arms out. "Shouldn't we tell our parents first? Moms already losing it. What'll they do if _we_ disappear too?" they all gulped, knowing she was right. They were in for one heck of a grounding…

-Elsewhere-

Squint heard voices. And not the 'he's going crazy' type of voices.

"What should we do with them?"

"I th-" whoever it was was cut off.

"We're gonna have to do the right thing and take em with us, aren't we?" a slightly annoyed, definitely more than a bit arrogant voice asked.

"Yep. Probably." At this Squint shot up into a sitting position. His head throbbed, and everything hurt, but he still managed to back away. Take them? Take them where? He didn't like the sound of that…

"Hey kid, relax. We ain't gonna hurtcha."

He looked up and met the faces of two reindeer. He scrambled back, effectively falling off Raz, who he had sprawled across when they fell down that hill due to mist, onto the snowy ground. The movement made her stir, shifting, almost like-

"No! Don't!" too late. She rolled over and he choked, breath cut off.

"Raz!" he yelled, pushing desperately on her side. "I can't breathe!"

"Huh?" she sat up, finding her poor friend flattened in the snow. "My mah gosh! Ah- Ah'm sorr'eh!" she carefully peeled him out the snow. "Ye alrigh?"

"Ok, um, OW!" he grumbled, rubbing his head.

"Ah'm s' sorry!" she apologized, but her eyes were twinkling with humor. "S'metime Ah git restless an move aroun a lot in m' sleep."

"Gee, really? I didn't notice."

She laughed… until someone cleared their throat behind them, and she jumped, turning. They were both watching the two friends. "Uh… 'ello?"

"Hi!" the one with a tannish coat chirped cheerily, giving them an almost suspiciously friendly smile. "I'm Vixen!"

"Ok…"

"And I'm… uh…"

"Aye?"

"…Prancer." They shared looks for a moment. One second, two seconds… they both burst into a fit of hysterical laughing.

"Seriously?!"

"Ow! Oh my sides!" Raz slammed both paws over her mouth, dropping Squint in the process. "Ow!" he clamped his fingers over his mouth as well.

"Ah'm sorr'eh, Ah'm sorr'eh, I just-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." He looked a little upset, but almost bored too, like he was used to it. Neither child would be surprised. Yeesh, that must've made him a target for bullying as a child. "So" he started, surveying the others as they began to stir. "What're you seven doing in the middle of, well, nowhere?"

"Well-" there was a high pitched squeak, and something rammed right into his eye, making him recoil and grasp it with a pained yelp. Glowbot fluttered in front of her, waving one tiny finger in his face, squeaking and chattering angrily.

"Oi! Glowbot!" she held out a finger, and after a few more unhappy shrieks, he happily perched on it. "There ye are! Ah was worr'ed y'd got crushed 'er something." He squeaked happily and fluttered up to her cheek, rubbing affectionately against it. She laughed, finding it slightly ticklish.

"Hey, where's Lightning?" Squint asked. "Lightning!" and the little glowing bug, although he wasn't technically glowing at the moment, perched on his ear, which he flopped in front of his face to see the little insect. "Hi Lightning."

"Um, hello? Still here." They turned back to the hoofed mammals, who'd recovered from the eye-bash that Raz secretly found amusing.

"An… yer point?"

He heaved a sigh. "I said, what're you little guys doing out in the middle of nowhere?"

Squint crossed his arms. "I'm not little! And who says we have to tell you anyway?" he continued smartly with a teasing, yet somehow angelic and innocent, smirk. He used that on a lot of adults should they ever get mad at him; it let them know he'd one, but that's where the sweet part came in. nobody could stay mad at any of them when they wore those sweet, sad ' _I really didn't mean to_' smiles.

"Uh… no one. Just wondering."

"Well." Raz pushed herself up with her tail, considering getting up all other ways was pretty much impossible, because she couldn't move her legs in anything but perfect synch, and the others rose too. "T' bad. We ain't tellin ya nothin. We go' things ta do an' places ta be." And with that they marched off, unaware those rather nosy four legged mammals were following them in a way they could never imagine…

**Surprised to see them? Yeah, sorry, I just needed an extra plot twist, and a way to make their trip go a little faster. Don't worry, I'll get to that eventually.**

**So what'dja think? Not too bad, I hope? Please review!**

**P.S. Points and a special shout out to whoever can guess the fireflies name-givers (I don't wanna say owners, cuz they're not pets), or the most.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Seriously, why can't I seem to stop writing. My fingers just keep going and I can't keep up! Enjoy and review!**

"You did _**WHAT**_?!" all thirteen parents yelled.

"I- It was an acc'dent mum!" Aaiden hurriedly tried to explain. "Honest i' was!"

"So you mean to tell me that you made up some imaginary list, broke my sons heart, and put all our children's lives on the line because their going up to the north pole?!" Lisa raved furiously, eyes blazing with anger, Nathan holding her back, but the others looked really mad too.

"You are all so gr-"

"You can punish us later!" Rekha, one of Gupta's sisters, interrupted. "We've gotta find them before something else does!" none of them appreciated the way she said 'something else'.

"Wait!" Joyeeta cried. "…Where's Krishna?"

…

"Krishna!" Joyeeta yelled as she slid down their tunnel entrance, landing in the middle of their family room. One of her eldest daughters lay sprawled on the stone couch, fiddling with her claws in complete boredom with a blanket over her lower half. She looked up at her with tired eyes.

"Hi mom…" she greeted hoarsely. Her cold was still going strong. "Could you please not yell? I've gotta headache."

"Don't try that on me!" she hissed. Normally she spoke to her children with love and compassion, especially when they didn't feel well, but not this time. "Where. Is. He?"

"He? He who?" she asked, looking confused. She was a fairly good actress.

"Gupta! Who else?" she snapped.

She shrugged weakly and shivered a little, sliding down further and pulling the blanket up. "How should I know? I've been sleeping most of the day."

"Just tell me what you know, young lady, or I'll-" she promptly stopped herself.

Krishna's eyes widened. Her mother had almost _threatened_ her. If it was that serious… "Ok, f-fine." She started quietly, feeling guilty for betraying her brother. "I saw Gupta last night when I got up to get some tea- the guys played some trick on em, and they're heading to the north pole to get off Santa's naughty list." She let out without taking a breath, instantly clamping her paws over her mouth. She'd just betrayed her brother…

-Farther North-

The kids were bored. After all, walking wasn't at all entertaining after a few who-knew-how-many miles, and there was nothing for I Spy, except snow, trees, and the occasional rock. Boring. The sky was clear, the Northern Lights were glimmering, but that was all. Not a single interesting cloud, not even a wisp. Boring. Boring, boring, boring.

"I'm _sooooo_ bored." Squint groaned for the thousandth time, draped across Raz's shoulder, who was beginning to get annoyed.

"Yeh, we all are. Git over i'." she mumbled irritably, fiddling with her scarf, which she was bending and twisting into different shapes to keep her fingers busy. She felt fidgety and twitchy and anxious, like all kids if they stayed unentertained for too long. …Or when she could sense something amiss. Not necessarily wrong, because that would mean danger or a setback in their journey, but something definitely wasn't the same as it had been. She just couldn't figure out what.

The strangest thing they'd seen on their trip so far was a crazed squirrel that came and jumped on Gunner's head when his acorn rolled in front of them, getting under Raz's foot. Unsuspecting and unable to balance herself, she'd been sent sprawling. Since then, she'd developed a dislike for those dumb, annoying little creatures, finding her jaw clenching with anger whenever she thought of it. It had, after all, practically attacked her friend. Not effectively, but still.

As they went along, Squint suddenly stiffened from his place dangling on her shoulder. What was that sparkly shriek in the sky? It wasn't part of the Northern Lights; it had disappeared as quickly as it had showed up. So what… there it was again! This time the rainbow, shimmery… whatever it was came raining down on him. He coughed a little and sat up. What in the world…

"Oi, ye ok?" Raz asked, turning her head to look at him. "Yer no' getting sick 'er something, are ya?" he just raised an eyebrow. "If ye are, don' breathe on meh. I ain't getting sick righ 'fore Christmas."

"No… just choked on something."

"Oh yeh? And whas tha?"

"I dunno… something sparkly fell outta the sky."

She gave him a weird look. "Do ye have _an'eh_ Ah'dea how 'diculous tha sounds?"

Yes, yes he did. But she didn't need to know that! "I don't what it was. It was…"

There was a sudden startled cry from the front. "What the-?!" they rushed forward and were promptly stunned into stillness.

-Elsewhere-

"Ah still can' be'lie ye act'lly tricked yer bab'eh sista inta runnin off ta fin' s'me guy tha lives in th' middle a' nowhere!" Lalli's devastation had been transformed into anger. If, and when, she got her precious baby girl back, those boys would be grounded until she died! Picking on younger siblings is one thing; she knew. She'd been a middle child herself.

But driving them to the point of hysterical tears (they'd also admitted that was the reason they'd all been crying so hard the day before) and running off into the wilderness to find something that was so vague and broad it was pretty much impossible? She wanted to punish them worse than an 'on hold' grounding, but her focus was on her precious, irreplaceable, beloved joey.

Worries raced through her mind. What it they couldn't find them before a predator of sorts did. She knew, if anything at all, looked appetizing to a hungry carnivore, it would be a band of defenseless little kids with no parents to protect them at the moment. After all, the north pole could be _anywhere_! North was just a vague direction!

"Daling, please, try ta r'lax. Ya need ta calm down."

She turned on her husband, eyes flaming with anger. Uh oh…

"_Relax_?!" she hissed. "Ye want me ta _r'lax_?" oh boy… he'd really done it now. "Ah'm sorr'eh Blayke, lemme clar'fy ar situation fer yeh. Ar' one an onl'eh daughter is los' in thr middle a nowhere with no pr'tection- from anythin! She coul freeze ta death, er make a fine app'tizer. So don' ye _dare_ tell meh to _calm down_."

"Uh, y-yes dear." He said hurriedly, leaning away from his suddenly violent wife. He'd never seen her like this before. If this was the side effect of Raz missing, he really hoped they found her soon. For his, and quite possibly, their marriage, sake.

'_Oh Raz'_ he thought. '_Where are ya_?' all the others were thinking the same thing.

**And… done! Jeez! Six chapters in two days! This is going great! Review please!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok, something wrong with me. I've never updated this much in such a short amount of time Enjoy and review please!**

The kids all had their mouths open, eyes wide. "Ok… Ah think Ah'm losin' mah head." Raz managed.

"Wh-Why?"

"Cuz Ah think I see two float'n reindeer in fronta us."

"Then I think we're _all_ losing it."

"You're not losing it, ok?" the one from before, Prancer said, still hovering in the air before them. "We're really floating!"

Raz shook her head. "Didn' Ah tell ye ta bug off?" they didn't have time for delays! They only had a day and a half to get to their destination and save their holiday! "Whaddaya want?"

"Relax little-"

She cut the smiley one off. "I'm not little!"

Paying her no attention, she continued. "-one! We wanna help you!"

"You don't even know us." Gupta pointed out. That did sound a little suspicious. Actually, very. They were a couple of floating strangers, with sparkly rainbow dust sprinkling off them, giving them creepily friendly smiles.

They probably had something nasty planned; most people just assumed kids were gullible and stupid, easily pranked. But they weren't! At least… not usually. But still, they knew not to talk to mysterious strangers, or strangers in general, especially ones that seemed overly-eager to help them. And when they didn't even need help! It was kind of disturbing…

"So where you kids headed?" Prancer asked. "Didja run away from home?"

"No!" they all cried indignantly. Of course they wouldn't run away! They had loving parents and wonderful homes back, well, _home_. Why would they have reason to run away? Absurd!

"Then whatcha doin out here in the middle of nowhere with no parents?" well when he put it like _that_, it did kinda sound like they ran away. But running away was to get away from their parents! They'd never do that. They were simply off to visit a mystical human (seemingly the only good one of that race) so they could have a much-loved holiday like everyone else. That wasn't running away… was it?

Gunner sighed. "You're not gonna leave us alone, are ya?"

"No, probably not!" the happy, smiley one chirped.

He sighed. "Alright, you can come. Just don't be too annoying."

So they plodded on. The reindeer simply floated, something the insects found strange, and definitely not in a good way. The little fireflies didn't like their new… acquaintances, for lack of better word, giving squeaky complaints to their favored children, most of which were ignored.

They continued on for hours, taking a small break for a quick nap near a large, leafless tree. Maybe a willow, or an oak… they didn't really know, or care.

Eating a small snack, they continued till dark. They wanted to go on, but the fireflies, who turned out to be surprisingly stubborn, refused. It wasn't safe for little ones such as themselves to be out at night; many predators hunted after dark, where they could use the added camouflage to stalk helpless prey- astray, defenseless young ones especially.

They ushered them into a cave an hour after dark, and the kids settled in for the night after a brief supper. They still had plenty of food left, mainly stored in Raz's pouch (she wasn't too sure she liked being their personal storage shed) for safe keeping.

They talked for a little while, until they were yawning constantly, little eyes heavy and gazing at the small, warm fire the reindeer had started by striking their hooves against the walls to create sparks. Squeaking to get attention, Shine flew over to a large space of moss spread out on the floor they hadn't notice before. The insects each led their yawning, sleepy little friends over to the soft makeshift bed. They laid down gladly, curled up comfortably and managed exhausted smiles as the seven small bugs managed to drape a leafy blanket over each. "Night guys…" someone managed to mutter before they crashed.

Vixen smiled, for once talking quietly and without a hyper touch to it. "They're cute huh?"

"I guess…" they laid down as well, near the entrance, watching them carefully. They'd find out what they were doing out here, sooner or later.

-Elsewhere-

The adults had finally decided to halt their searching for the night, finding a nice cave shelter. There was enough room to move around comfortably; it was pretty large.

While Julie and Joyeeta instantly went to sleep to ease their minds, the others went off into corners and tunnels that led back a little to think. The only one that didn't clear off was Lalli, staring out at the gentle rain that had begun to fall near the very entrance. Her poor little girl…

Someone cleared their throat behind her. "Oi… Sheila? Can Ah talk ta you?" Blayke asked timidly.

She heaved a partially sad, partially annoyed sigh, still ticked to him for his careless comment earlier about calming down. "Talk."

"Look… daling, I- when Ah said I wanted ye t' relax, Ah didn't mean…" he sighed. This was harder than he thought. His mind was clouded with worry for his only daughter, and he'd never really had to apologize to his beloved wife before. They rarely argued, they got along so well- and the occasional quarrel was usually resolved by a couple loving looks and apologetic smiles, and maybe a loving hour of tender cuddling before a warm fire (something that made their six sons gag in disgust and their daughter come and nap on Lalli's lap, if she wasn't out playing).

"Whaddid ya mean then?" she demanded, keeping her eyes locked on the outside landscape; the rain was pounding harder now, lightning arching across the sky, thunder rumbling on occasion.

"I… Ah jus can' stand seein ya so upset, alrigh?" he hopped up to stand beside. "Love, I get that yer worried, honest Ah do. 'm worried too. Heck Ah'd be worried if ye _wasn't_ worried. Afta all, wha kina par'nt wouldn' be?"

"Obv'ously no' you!" she snapped, whirling to face him. She couldn't help it. Her emotions had been bottled up for too long. They just bubbled up like a volcano and spilled out of her. "If y' was realla worried, ya wouldn' be tak'n i' so lightly!"

She turned away and put her head in her hands. "Ah jus can' do this Blayke!" her voice was nothing but a hollow, devastated whisper. The honey colored female began to cry. "I'm so w'rried bout 'er… what if sheh's alreada gone?! Wha if were too late?"

"Lalli…" he inched closer and embraced her. The now shaking mother welcomed the embrace, completely forgetting about being mad at him.

That just added to her troubles, the fact that they were fighting. She'd heard of things like this; mates getting a divorce and going their separate ways because of constant squabbles and disagreement. Though she knew this was caused by the heartache for her daughter, she feared, what if it continued if/when they got her back? She couldn't bear the thought of losing another person she loved. It was all just too much.

He led her over to the fire, curling up together, and still she cried. He held her gladly; he wouldn't pretend to fully understand what was going through her mind, but he had a pretty good idea; and knew whatever was going on was causing her heartbreak and anger, and that she needed comfort. She needed him. And he was prepared to give her whatever she should need, he lived to make her happy. Her very presence please him. And vice versa. They truly were a perfect pair.

After about half an hour, he gently held her back. Fat teardrops still rolled down her cheeks. Cradling her beautiful face in his hands, he carefully wiped the tears with his thumbs, which thankfully weren't replaced, then embraced her again.

She still shook, but at least she was no longer crying. "Sheila, don't worr'eh. Ah promise we'll find 'er."

"Pr-Promise?"

He nodded and kissed the top of her head. "Ah promise. An' when weh do, sh'll be jus fine. Be jus as good as when sheh left. Bett'ah even."

She managed a weak smile. "…Thanks."

"Wha fer?"

She yawned and blinked her heavy eyes. "Evrathin." She promptly snuggled into his chest and fell asleep.

He smiled softly. "G'nigh love." He carefully, slowly laid her down, curling up right next to her, being cautious not to disturb her as he pulled her now peaceful form closer. "Swee dreams swee'hart." And he was asleep as well. They'd find their daughter. They had to.

**Well? Do you think the scenes with their parents are bad/unnecessary? Sorry, I just thought it'd be interesting to see it from both sides. Review please!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey! I'm back! Again! I like this roll!**

Squint couldn't sleep. At least, not well. The storm was bothering him; he was tossing and turning, shifting to try and get rid of the bad dreams, face riddled with pain. On a particular loud clap of thunder, followed by a flash of lightning creating false-daylight for a moment, he jerked awake, gasping.

Eyes wide, he slowly got up and slowly inched toward the door, hands held up to his chest nervously. He watched the rain fall for a few seconds… until another boom of thunder shook the cave. He stifled a terrified and jumped back. He hated storms. He'd been terrified of them ever since he was a tiny newborn, back when he never left her arms for more than a few minutes.

The fear was still strong, and even worse because his mother wasn't there to soothe him. Usually when it rained, he'd ask his parents to sleep with them. It may have seemed babyish or dumb, but it was the only thing that kept him calm; curled up against Julie's chest with her arms protectively wrapped around him.

Trembling, he quietly made his way back to the sleeping area. Sitting down, he leant against a small rock not much bigger than a full grown rabbit, sighing. He tried to remember what his mother would say about thunder; it was nothing that could hurt him. When he was with her, everything seemed that way. With his parents near, nothing could hurt him. They'd always been right there to protect him… until now…

His eyes became wet and he sniffled sadly, reaching up to rub the tears away. Instead, they slowly started to trickle down his cheeks. He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them, laying his head down on top, beginning to sob nearly silently, not nearly enough to wake anyone up. Well… almost no one.

Lightning, who had been dozing on a nearby stone with his other little friends, lifted his head. What was that sound? The horribly devastated, heart wrenching sounds; the depressed sobs and desperate-for-comfort sniffles? He'd heard something similar before…

He lifted into the air with a beat of his tiny wings, looking around… he squeaked in alarm. His new young friend, Squint, rested nearby, but he wasn't sleeping. He was crying nearly silently. But just enough to alert him.

Flitting over, he landed on his shoulder rather hard, just enough to be noticed, and patted his shoulder, although he wasn't sure how much he could feel through his fur. The firefly was, after all, tiny with not much strength.

Squint must've noticed, because he shifted slightly, halting his sobs for a moment, glancing at the insect out of the corner of his eye before burying his face in his arms again. Lightning squeaked in question. What was wrong?

"I-I'm scared L-Lightning." He choked out, words strained from sobbing, hoarse with devastation and soaked with grief. "And… And I miss m' mommy…"

Lightning shook his head sympathetically and snuggled up against his cheek in an attempt to console the child. But it didn't help.

Without his mother there to comfort him, pull him into her lap and hug him and stroke his ears comfortingly, he couldn't be helped. His fear couldn't be soothed. He was just too upset, overwhelmed by fear, and the longing to see his mother. It felt like forever since she'd tucked him in, kissing his forehead goodnight and pulling the blanket up to his chin so he could stay warm.

He missed home. Plain and simple.

-Elsewhere-

Julie was instantly awakened by the thundering outside. While she herself wasn't bothered by it, she sat up impulsively. For a moment, she thought she was still at home, her eighty children tucked in bed and Nathan beside her. She reached out her arm out of pure habit, to grab her youngest child and hold him close. But no such thing tonight.

As the memories of their horrid predicament came flooding back, tears filled her crystalline eyes. She laid back down and turned on her side, away from her husband, curling into a miserable ball, water leaking from her big blue eyes. She missed her precious baby even more than expressed. What she wouldn't do to have him there in her arms, curled up and snuggling in her fur, a sleepy smile on his face like some nights…

Sniffling, she desperately tried to muffle her sobs. If Nathan woke up…

She still couldn't help but think of her baby. Her youngest. Her most treasured- no! That was wrong! She loved them all equally. Mothers didn't show favoritism! She was just worried about him, as any parent should.

Sighing, she buried her face in her arms. Her poor child… her precious baby boy… out there all alone, no doubt terrified of the storm. Stubborn and proud as he was, he'd never get comfort from his friends. He wouldn't let them; probably keep it as quiet as possible.

Where on earth was he…

-Elsewhere… again-

The child was still scared, although the storm had died down to nothing but a small drizzle. He looked outside, getting a little damp in the process, looking up at moon. It was directly overhead. Midnight. Yawning, he rubbed his heavy brown eyes and trudged back inside, shaking off his rain sprinkled fur, before walking over to the sleeping moss, Lightning tugging at his finger. He gladly laid down, curling up close to Raz, the only one who (probably) wouldn't get mad at him for being so close, and pulled the leaf blanket over his head. "…Mom…?"

He was beginning to regret going on this journey. He almost thought he'd have no Christmas at all than be away from his family. He missed his mother, and father, and- something her thought he'd never say- but he was starting to miss his mean big sisters too. Just a little, but still. He'd rather put up with their pranks, and constant teasing and taunting than be away from home on the holiday that was supposed to be the happiest.

He sighed as he finally drifted off into a fitful, anything but peaceful, sleep, knowing what he really wanted for Christmas. To go home. "Dad…"

**So what'd you think? Decent, I hope? **


	9. Chapter 9

**Still on a roll! Whoo-hoo!**

**Ice Age 4 comes out in five days! Yay! Enjoy!**

The morning was misty and foggy. The snow had frozen over with a thick layer of ice from the rain, making it nearly impossible to move around, especially for Raz and Flynn. They were all spending more time slipping rather than making progress.

Vixen and Prancer, floating above, shared looks. They needed to get back to the Pole soon; Christmas was tomorrow, and they were needed to pull the sleigh. But they couldn't just leave these children out here alone, with no protection.

"Uh… guys?" he called down, making Raz promptly turn… and lose her footing, ending up on her back.

"Ow!"

"Sorry. Anyway, can we maybe make this faster and fly you guys to our place?" if they were there, at least they'd have the mini-sloth elves to watch over them. And after Christmas, they could bring them home.

"Uh…" they were all too busy trying to stand up for more than five seconds to answer. They shared another glance. This wasn't getting them anywhere. The magical deer lower to the ground, Vixen helping the joey to her feet. She gladly gripped her neck, maybe a little too hard. She really hated ice at the moment.

It was a bit of a challenge, but eventually the kids had boarded their 'flight'. It wasn't much of a challenge for Prancer, considering a year or two ago he'd had to transport a seven hundred eighty eight pound mammoth calf. These kids weighed practically nothing compared to that.

Speaking of that peculiar little group "I take back what I said about no one being stranger than them." He muttered under his breath.

"What?" Squint called down from his place on his antlers, clinging to it for dear life and desperate not to fall, Silas beside him, who seemed much more at ease, used to being up in the air.

"Nothin."

"Woah!" Gupta folded his hands the best he could and closed his eyes. "I wanna live. I wanna live. I wanna live. I wanna live…" he muttered over and over. "I wanna live. I wanna live. I wanna-"

"Oi, knock it off!" Raz ordered. "Yer makin meh nervous!"

"I _am_ nervous!"

"Ah sai' _me_, no' you!"

Vixen lowered her ears. Being in close quarters with these guys while they were arguing wasn't the most pleasant predicament… But they were doing the right thing, so she didn't really mind.

Flynn didn't really like this. It was interesting, and magical, but he was nervous. This wasn't his element. Then again, land wasn't either, but at least on _land_, he couldn't fall out of the sky and get flattened a few thousand feet later. And he wasn't feeling too well… maybe it was the nervousness.

He was relieved when they landed, kind of in a crashing way due to the reindeer being tired, in a soft, snowy field. "Wow…" they all looked around in amazement, while their new acquaintances (they weren't friends _quite_ yet) settled down to sit for a moment.

"Hey! Look!" Squint darted over to a bush with round, sparkly purple fruits on it. He plucked one off and took a bite. "Mmm… sugar plums!"

Gunner scraped a scrap of bark off a nearby tree and tasted it. "Peppermint!"

Gupta ran over to a bush and instantly picked a plum, the biggest, juiciest, sweetest looking one he could find; he _had_ promised Krishna, after all. "You think she'll like this?" it was the size of a human fist, about.

"Yeah…" Flynn licked his lips. "Can I taste?"

"No!" he held it against his shoulder possessively. "It's for Krissy! She said she wouldn't tell on us!"

"She _knows_?!" the six other kids exclaimed.

He chuckled nervously, offering a half smile. "…Oops?"

They would've gotten mad, but considering they were surrounded by plants literally _made of candy_, decided it could wait. They gorged to their hearts (and stomachs) content for about five minutes, until the reindeer approached and warned them not to eat too much. "It'll give you a tummy ache." Vixen warned. "Or maybe hiccups." The stomach ache part they could understand, but hiccups? What was wrong with that? Everyone got them at sometime.

Then they started leading them away from the candy grove, Raz stuffing her pouch with peppermint bark chunks and strips, along with the ripest looking sugar plums she could find. Gupta wrapped up his sisters plum in a leaf he found for a little extra protection.

As they were led along, a voice shouted "HALT!" they all turned, the kids tilting their heads and the reindeer rolling their eyes. "None shall pass!"

"Oh knock it off mini's, you know we work here."

The kids gasped. "You _work_ here?"

"As in, at the North Pole?"

"With Santa?' they nodded. "Why didn't you tell us any of this?!"

"You didn't ask." Prancer answered.

_Seriously?_ Their journey could've been decreased by tenfold! That was just plain annoying. But wait… "Ya mean… were close?"

"To what?"

"Santa. Who else?

"Wait, _that's_ what you guys're doing clear out here?" he asked.

Flynn nodded. "Yeah. Rosie said we're on the naughty list…"

"And we wanna make sure we get Christmas!"

Prancer and Vixen shared puzzled looks. These adorable little children were on the _naughty list_? That was ridiculous, they seemed so nice and well behaved! "Wait a minute. _Who_ told you that?"

"All- All our big brothers and sisters." Squint answered, twiddling his thumbs nervously. Since they worked with/for Santa, would they not let naughty list kids see him? He hoped not. They all did, because the sooner they found them, the sooner they could go home. When they woke up that morning and ate breakfast, they were all aware of a dull aching feeling in their hearts. They missed home, and their loving parents.

"Oooooooooooh." Now they understood. "Well, let's go."

So they ordered the sloth elves aside, and they reluctantly did as told. With their connection to Santa, their presents were at risk by defying them. They glared at the kids as they passed, who stuck close to the reindeer, who seemingly had much influence over them.

After they passed the mini army, the kids fanned out again, frolicking happily in the sparkly snow, while their deer escorts floated nearby, their firefly friends flitting amongst them with little shrieks of joy.

After about an hour, they arrived at what appeared to be a large work area, with stone tables spread about and little elves bent over them and making last minute dolls, frisbies, boomerangs, and other things.

The reindeer made sure to be seen leading them so the kids wouldn't be assaulted, then took off into the sky. They needed to have a chat with Santa.

The group of seven gazed around in amazement, eyes wide. Wow… who knew the toy making area was so big? And… full of tiny sloths no taller than any of them? Huh, interesting…

In a burst of excitement they began rushing around, looking at the things the elves made for a few moments, before darting off again, laughing joyously! Such magic! Such beauty. It was almost too much, overwhelming in a good way. They couldn't believe they'd actually accomplished something like this! Amazing. Simply amazing!

In his haste, Squint's foot caught on something and he was sent sprawling in the snow. Sitting up, he shook snow off his ears and looked to see what he had tripped on. A long, long strip of paper, curled at the ends.

Head tilted, nose twitching curiously, he turned it over. Well… the bottom half, considering the top half was stuck in the snow. He gasped.

It was a huge, long list. A bunch of names, all in perfectly clear writing! This must be it! Searching it frantically, hoping he wouldn't find- oh _no_.

His ears fell back and he blinked in disbelief. Because there, written perfectly clear, were unmistakably _their names_.

"Guys…" he called voer his shoulder. It was soft and broken, but they heard anyway and rushed over.

"What?"

"Look." He raised one shaking finger to point and laid it right beside his name, which was between Silas and Raz. "We really _are_ on the naughty list…"

***gasp!* I'm just **_**horrible**_** to them, huh? Review please!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Here we go! New chapter! I'm sorry it took so long, but I think my roll is gone. Darn! Oh well, I hope you enjoy. I'll try to update as often as I can. Enjoy!**

The kids were in shock. How could this be? It didn't seem possible, and yet the evidence was right there. Their names all in fine, perfectly readable print.

Raz sniffled, eyes beginning to sting. "Guess iss' true then." She lowered her head. "We ain' getting Christmas…"

"I can' believe it. We came all this way…" each set of eyes filled to the brim with tears. "An' we don't even get Christmas…"

The sloths were beginning to look over curiously, right as the first tear slid down one's cheek. Gupta sniffed and wiped the tear away, but more just replaced it. That seeming as a cue to the others, they started to cry too, and within seconds they were all sobbing heavily, gathered up together in a bunch, a fruitless attempt to comfort each other.

The elves looked over questioningly, a bit annoyed. All this ruckus wasn't helping their last minute preparations, but they could do nothing about it. If the reindeer thought they were worthy enough to be here… they had to be near the very top of the nice list.

But that didn't explain their sudden disruptive wails. What on earth could be wrong? They were at the _North Pole_ for Christmas' sake! One of the braver ones, a blond furred female with green eyes, put down the doll she was sewing with a pine needle and some cotton thread, and began to walk over.

"Uh… kids?"

"Wh-What?!" came a choked reply from she-couldn't-tell-who. They were all huddled together with their faces facing the inside of their little group circle, heads down.

"What's, um, what's wr-"

"What's going on here?" a new, naturally rather loud voice boomed. The kids didn't move, but Holly turned to her boss, and the two deer from earlier.

"Santa, sir, well… I'm not sure."

"…Santa?" a quiet voice whimpered questioningly. The rabbit was peaking out from their circle, eyes and cheeks wet, ears down, trembling with sadness.

"That's me." The little boy looked ready to say something, but the humans eyes landed on the paper. "And what do you kids think you're doing? Trying to make some last minute changes?" he demanded rather crossly.

"W-Well…" Raz swallowed and rubbed her eyes. "Act'lly, yeah."

He made a 'tsk tsk' sound. "Young lady-"

"'m sorr'eh!" she exclaimed. "Bu' why're weh on th' naughty list?" she gave him a pleading look. "Why? Whaddid we do?"

"Naughty list?" he sounded exasperated. "What are you talking about Raz?"

She looked astounded. "Ye know mah name?"

"Well of course. How else am I supposed to keep track of what everyone wants?"

"Um…" they shared confused looks. "But San'a…" while he didn't want to jinx it, Gupta was curious. "Isn' this the naughty list?"

He laughed loudly, startling the little ones a bit. "Of course not!" he picked it up and shook the snow off, holding it up for them to see. It was still the perfect green print from before, but now they could see the top. In much bigger writing, underlined for emphasis, at the top of the page were the words '_Nice List._' They shared wide eyed looks. But that meant…

"WE GET CHRISTMAS!"

-Elsewhere-

Lily felt so very guilty as she walked side by side her brother behind their mother. She'd never meant it to go this far. Poor Lisa, so overwhelmed, had just suffered an emotional/mental breakdown of some sorts and collapsed crying before completely losing consciousness. While everyone assured Nathan she'd be alright, he still looked a bit pale.

Why had this happened? Why had she been so stupid as to tell her little brother such things? Despite common local belief, she didn't hate the little squirt. During the seldom time he was around her, when he wasn't off playing with his friends or lounging with Amethyst for a nap of just 'lazy' time. Whenever she got the rare moment alone, which was hard as she and her twin were nearly inseparable, she had to admit, he was innocent and rather sweet, like all kids his age.

She had to admit to herself, she was jealous. She'd jealous of the little tyke ever since he was born. Because the second their mother announced she was pregnant, jealousy flamed within her two other children. They didn't want to share their mother and father with a new baby.

Soon after the little guy was born, their father died. Of what, they didn't know. He just became aware of strange pains throughout his body, this went on for a few weeks, and one morning, he didn't wake up. It had been a time of mourning for all of them. Even the few day old child seemed to know something was wrong and got fussy for a few days.

It was worse than ever after that. Amethyst spent every moment of her time with their new little brother. She hardly even glanced at her other children after that, while the baby needed constant attention.

The others secretly felt the same. When they're newest (and final, had been decided) siblings had arrived, they'd been shoved aside. It was a little later for the Australian brothers, considering their sister didn't need much attention beside slight caution of her mother before her first trip out of the pouch. The family still had equal amounts of fun together. The boys enjoyed the quality time with their parents. Then she came along and spoiled everything.

The second their little sisters feet touched the ground for the first time, it was as if the world revolved around her, as if everything had to be made perfect especially for 'mummy and daddy's special little princess'. They had moved, after all, from their old home, all the way up to lush center-ish of the continent, just so Raz could grow up one hundred percent safely. No dangers of dingoes, their natural predators, or water scarcity, and there was more than enough food everywhere.

Aaiden still couldn't help but slapping himself over and over in his head. He'd broken his mothers heart and put a crack in their usual mushy, lovey-dovey relationship. He hadn't seem them cuddle or give each other sweet looks for two days, about the time they'd been out here, which was a huge record for them.

He'd admit, he was worried. Not just for his parents, but his baby sister. While she may have been annoying, and always getting her way, and had both their parents (unknowingly) totally wrapped around her fingers, she was still his sister.

And he was her big brother. He was supposed to protect her, and be there for her. Not fill her head with horrible untruths and make her cry, and bully her.

He just couldn't get the image of his poor, innocent little sister out there all alone in the middle of a blizzard, glowing eyes that only he could see surrounding her, shivering, crying, calling desperately for her friends, family, someone.

And the fact that it was his fault. '_Poor bab'eh sis_…' he thought, gazing ahead at the land ahead of them. '_Please be alrigh_.' He sighed and bit his lip. '_An if yer no'… Ah'm _so_ sorr'eh I gotcha inta this_.'

-Further North-

The kids had finally gotten over their excitement and were beaming uncontrollably. Scanning the lists again and again, overjoyed. First the nice, they'd find their names, then the naughty, overjoyed when they didn't see anything. That is, until…

Raz frowned curiously. There was a sprinkle of snow on one of the list, blocking out one of the names. Wondering, she gently brushed it off and read the name. She gasped, once merry metallic pools filling with horror. "Uh oh… mates…?"

"Yeah?" Squint jumped up on her shoulder.

"Look." She pointed at the name, written there in bright red writing. Jemal. She looked near it and, sure enough, there were her other brothers names as well.

"Hey!" Flynn cried obliviously. "That's my sister!"

"And my brother and sister!" they shared sad looks. Uh oh…

**Well… what'dja think? I honestly wanted to put more emotion in the first scene, but I just couldn't come up with anything.**

**I'm sorry, but I think my lucky roll is over. But I **_**promise**_**, it **_**will**_** be done by December 20****th****. Now I don't believe in all that doomsday stuff (I mean no offense whatsoever to anyone who may. And if I have offended you, I'm very very sorry.), but I'm just being cautious. You never know. I'd hate to have us all die before it's done. Oh, and one more thing…**

**ICE AGE 4 COMES OUT ON DVD IN EXACTLY AN HOUR AND FIFTY MINUTES! Yeah, I'm obsessed. Sue me. …Please don't sue me. But anyway, I've actually got someone on hold at school to go get it for me at lunch if my mom can't pick me up and drive me to walmart after school.**

**Please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry to give you such a late update, but I do intend to keep my promise of it being done by/on the 20****th****!**

**Enjoy!**

**And I don't own Ice Age (obviously).**

The kids stared in horror at the list. "Oh no… poor Krissy." Gupta noticed with dismay his one nice big sisters name there. What was her name doing on there?! She was nice to him. Maybe Santa just had assumed…

"Uh oh…" Raz blinked. While her brothers may have been mean and bullied her all the time, nobody deserved to not have Christmas! Suddenly she felt very sorry for them. She imagined their sad faces if they didn't wake up to presents… she traced her finger around Aaiden's name. "Poor big bloke…" she murmured.

They shared glances. "…Guys?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's go talk to Santa." Then they went off.

He was loading a huge bag with the little sloths, humming to himself. "Uh, Mista Santa sir?" Flynn tugged at his coat, and he looked down at the seven little animals.

"Yes?"

"U-Um, about the naughty list…"

"Yes?" he continued stuffing the bag with peppermint wrapped presents.

"W-Well, weh was wondrin…"

"_Yes_?" he was beginning to get annoyed.

"Well… why're my big sisters on the naughty list?" the rabbit received pointed looks from the others and hurriedly added "A-And the others?"

Santa looked perplexed. "_Why_? They're horrible children, they pick on you all the time!" he sounded confused at their question and angry as he spoke of them, but inside he was smiling.

"Well yeah, but… I don't wanna see 'em all sad on Christmas." Gunner explained pleadingly. "Whatif they stop likin Christmas cuz'a it?"

"Yeh!" Raz agreed. "Ah don' like em sometimes, bu' ev'n they're no' bad nuff no' ta git Christmas! Iss' no' fair!"

"Yeah! Who came up with the dumb idea for a naughty list anyway?"

He looked taken aback by the sudden angry outburst, nodding in approval inside. Yep, definitely golden hearted. "Well, I suppose…"

"_Please_? Krissy's always nice ta me! And the others can learn!" Gupta begged. They all looked at him pleadingly, eyes big and glassy. Those looks could get them anything they so desired.

"Oh… alright. I guess I could pull a few strings."

"Ok! But… could you get them off the naughty list first?" Flynn asked, making the others shake their heads. They loved him and all, he was like a fun brother, but his… bluntness made him annoying sometimes. He wasn't exactly the sharpest barb of coral in the sea, but that didn't really matter to them. Best friends didn't care about those things.

Santa chuckled at his innocent obliviousness and patted his head. "Alright."

"Yay!"

-Elsewhere-

Julie had recovered from her breakdown and was now managing to walk beside Nathan, who had his arm around her shoulders just in case.

He hoped they got there soon; he didn't know how much more emotional stress his wife could take, and he was getting seriously worried about her. Her blue eyes were cloudy and unfocused, like they were covered in a curtain of, mist. He hadn't seen her smile the past two and a half-ish days.

He looked back at the seventy nine daughters walking in bunches behind them. Ever since they'd admitted to accidentally chasing them off, they'd become like different people. The guilt weighed heavily on them and practically emanated off of them in a depressing manner. He'd even caught a few crying late at night. And not just his own daughters. Rosalynn had seemed really torn up the night before, shaking at the cave entrance and sobbing quietly. Anjali and Dzoita were found that morning asleep outside, and it was obvious they'd been crying together.

He gazed ahead, squinting into the distance. Those sure were some strange looking trees. They looked almost…

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, making sure Julie was still leaning on him and didn't fall. "Ok… am I suddenly delusional or do those trees look… stripe-y?"

Everyone looked at him like he'd lost it. Even Denisha, who was riding on Amethyst's shoulder, having started having a sick feeling in her stomach. Apparently, in her mixed up state of mind, she'd accidently eaten a holly berry, which could be mildly poisonous to birds, and now she felt too weak to fly.

He sighed and raised his left arm to point, the other firmly around his wife. They all looked and, sure enough, spotted a strange clump of trees in the distance. "Wha in th'… world…" Blayke sounded amazed and confused at the same time.

Thinking they may find some kind of reference to their destination, or maybe even someone having seen their children pass by, the assorted group of families headed in that direction.

They were amazed to find some strange plants; red and white striped trees and shrubs with sparkly purple fruits on them. "Where _are_ we?"

"I don't know." Dilynn answered his daughter. "But it I had to guess, I'd say we're getting close."

"Oh goody!" Katelynn, his ditzy yet motherly and caring wife, giggled, clapping. "I'm gonna get my baby back! Yay!" and now everyone knew where Flynn got his attitude from.

So they pressed on. The plants eventually disappeared, so they just went straight. At one point they were confronted by a very rude little sloth, and Aaiden got so mad he picked him up by the shoulders and yelled "Look, mah bab'eh sista's missin in th' middle a nowhere, were hundreds a miles fr'm home, so _back_ _off_!" shaking him angrily the whole time. When he was done, he threw off into the distance, his breathing ragged with fury.

Jemal leaned away. "Jeez. _Some'ns_ go' the pr'tec'ive big brotha act down."

He turned on him with a furious glare. "Shuddup." He hissed, then continued on.

He hadn't meant ot hurt the little sloth, or snap at his oldest younger brother, but he was worried about his little sister. The thought that he might never see her again…

While he was mentally ranting and reprimanding himself for being such an idiot and bullying her, he heard someone gasp. He looked down at Crystal, who was wide eyed, green orbs glued to something before them.

He turned to look, and gasped as well. Hundreds of teeny tiny elves were down in a valley below, working at little tables and helping a distant red and white shape that he couldn't make out due to distance stuff a large red bag, atop something that looked meant to be pulled. Eleven smaller forms stood nearby, in front of the to-be-pulled thing and seemingly tied up to it.

And, to everyone's great relief and joy, seven even smaller things stood close to the red thing, of multiple colors and shapes and heights.

They'd found the kids.

**Ooh, cliffhanger! Sorry, couldn't resist! I'm not going too fast with this, am I? Oh, and merry early-Christmas! Review please! Oh, and I've already started on the twelfth chapter.**

**Question, has anyone else here watched 'Party With A Pirate' mode on the Ice Age 4 DVD? If not, you're very much missing out and should totally watch it. Just thought I'd throw that out there.**

**Oh, one last thing! You should all read MusicRocks807's new one-shot 'Dreams'! It's spectacular, especially if you're a fan of the pirates, and I recommend it 100%!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I think I might be starting up another roll again! Hooray!**

**Enjoy!**

Sabrina couldn't contain her excitement. With a delighted squeal, she tore away from the hill, at speeds impressive even for a rabbit, so fast she blended perfectly with the snow, despite her spots. She weaved in between the little sloths and zipped right up to the group surrounding the sleigh.

As she approached, her baby brothers ears twitched at a sudden sound. It almost sounded like... "SQUINT!" _wham_! He was suddenly knocked off his feet by a blur of white, he and the mystery person rolled a couple times, before Sabrina jerked them out of the snow, holding him out in front of her for a moment before practically slamming him against her chest in a tight hug. "You're alive!" she practically. "Oh you're alive you're alive you're alive!" before she could even consider stopping herself, she was showering her little brother with kisses, all over his face. "I'm so glad your ok!"

It was then he seemed to register what was going on. "_Sabi_?" he exlciamed. "What- what're you doing _here_?!"

"Here to find you!" she snuggled him up against her chest again, only to have the boy snatched away by an eager looking Crystal, repeating the process of showering the tiny boy with affectionate pecks.

"I can't believe you're ok! I thought you'd get eaten or something!" the eldest started to cry and hugged him again. "I was so sure we'd lost you- don't ever scare me like that again! I was so worried!"

"Ahem!"

"_We_ were so worried." She corrected.

"Wait…" he sounded dazed. "You were worried… about _me_?"

"Yes!" Sabrina piped up. "Your our baby brother and we love you!"

He gasped. They'd never actually said they loved him before. "Really?"

"Yes! Yes yes yes! A million times yes! We all do!"

"_We_?" they'd forgotten about the other kids standing there.

Crystal nodded giddily. "Yep! Everyone's here!"

"You mean-"

"Raz!"

"Gupta!"

"Silas!"

"Flynn!"

"Gunner!"

"Dobson!"

They all gasped. "MAMA! DADDY!"

They each ran to meet their parents and were instantly swept up in lung collapsing, bone crushing hugs. Cries of "Oh, my baby!" and "Thank everything good and pure!" filled the air as they were finally, _finally_ reunited.

The foggy, inattentive veil instantly left Julie's blue eyes and brightened again as she took her son in her arms. He wrapped his arms around her neck, holding on tight and not ever wanting to let go, a small sob breaking free. "Oh mommy…" he whimpered. "I missed you!"

"Y-Yeah!" the others agreed. "Were sorr'eh fer makin ye worry mummy." Raz's voice was muffled by her mothers shoulder but everyone still heard. "But w' jus wann'ed Christmas too."

"Shh, I know." She shushed her daughter, stroking her long ears lovingly. "But i' don't matt'ah n'more. Yer back with mummy and daddy." Speaking of which, Blayke, watching the mother-daughter reunion, came up and wrapped his arms around his wife and little girl.

Raz squirmed out of her mothers arms and jumped to her father, who caught her, looking a bit startled. She put her arms around his neck and snuggled into his fur. "Ah love ye daddy."

He smiled and kissed her head. "Ah love ya too Razmia." She didn't even protest. She usually couldn't stand hearing her full name, but right then she didn't care. Heck, she wouldn't care if the entire earth caught on fire and killed off everything except her friends, family, and their families. She was just glad to be back with her par- no. Not just her parents. Back with her _family_.

There was a tap on her shoulder, and she reluctantly removed her face from her fathers neck. Her six older brothers made a half circle around them, Aaiden's arm still outstretched. They held each others gazes for a moment.

"…'Ey Sheila." He greeted quietly. "Look, sis, were _so_-" he didn't get a chance to finish, for she jumped straight onto him and hugged him as well.

"Iss' ok. Ah don' care n'more. Ah'm jus glad ta be back."

He looked taken aback for a moment, before wrapping them around her as well, surprised to find his eyes stinging slightly, but luckily, he was able to blink the tears away. He closed his eyes and laid his head protectively over hers. It felt good to hug her… for the first time, he realized with a start.

They would've stayed like that much longer, but someone interrupted. "Oi! Hey, give us a turn, will ye?" Jemal spoke up. "Sheh's ar' sista too, y'know!" Raz giggled and pounced on him, cuddling up against him.

"Ah love you…" she whispered. He gave her an affectionate nuzzle.

"Ah love you too."

Soon enough, after lots of cuddling and apologies and pretty super sappy-ish sweet moments that a certain group much later on would find sickening, the kids were back being held by their mothers, who had taken their disappearance the hardest.

Everything seemed perfect. They were all getting Christmas, they had found the kids, and they were perfect. But there was one little problem… "Oh no!" Flynn, who was being tossed up and down by Rosalynn, cried. "How're we gonna get home 'fore Chrissy-mas?!" for once, he had a point.

They all shared looks. Oops. They hadn't thought of that.

How _were_ they going to get home?

**Yes, I'm aware that it is short, but I just couldn't stretch it any further. Don't worry, I'll get right to work on chapter 13! Promise!**

**So, what'dja think? Did you like the reunions? Review please!**

**Yes, although I prefer to call him Boris, I used Dobson, cuz I doubt any parents would name their kids practically what they are. Just my opinion.**


	13. Chapter 13

**New chapter! Yeah, I'm on another roll again! YES!**

**Ooh, one thing before we start! There's a surprise at the end of this. If you can guess it before the end, congratulations!**

**Enjoy!**

Guilt hit the kids. They hadn't realized this consequence. Now that they were here… how were they to return? They wanted to be at home for Christmas, Gupta especially. Krishna, he noticed, wasn't present. She must've stayed home with her cold. He hoped she felt better. But even if not, he still wanted to spend Christmas with her. Not just _most_ of his family, but all.

"Well that's easy!" Vixen piped up. "You can ride with us!"

The badger instantly looked nervous. "Oh… no more heights."

"Why?" Anjali teased. But it wasn't the usual nasty taunt. She was grinning and the tone was light and full of laughter. She reached over to tickle him. "Scared?"

He giggled and swatted her paw away. "Yes. And I admit that."

She laughed too, then turned to the deer. "Whaddo you have in mind?"

-Elsewhere-

Krishna sighed sadly as she gazed up at the sky. Her head cold had pretty much cleared up, besides the occasional sniffle or throat clearing, her symptoms had pretty much vanished.

She watched the clouds drifting lazily. It was Christmas Eve, and they still weren't back with her baby brother. She still felt awful about ratting him out, but she had no choice. Her mother wouldn't let her lie. And she just couldn't leave him out there to find his way to the North Pole and back all by him. Well… his little friends were there too, but still. They were just innocent children too.

She sighed and covered her eyes, laying back. "Oh Gupta… please come home."

She stared around at their little valley. It really was tiny. She could see every place. Some were smudged a bit from distance, but she could see. The small forest off to the east, the lake to the south, and then the wide area of grass, lush and green, with occasional patch of color, clumps of flowers.

It was far too quiet without the loud, joyful squeals of the children running around and playing who-knows-what. They were practically the only residents in their valley, only a family of hummingbirds and an old field mouse couple otherwise.

She shook her head sadly; where were the little ones? She impatiently waited her families return, yet she also dreaded it. She was excited to see her little brother, but what if instead they brought news that he was dead? She wouldn't be able to live with herself, knowing she could've stopped him from going.

Krishna, or Krissy, ran her fingers through the grass and coughed slightly. "Please come home…" she fell into an uneasy sleep, dreaming of having her little brother back.

-Elsewhere… Again-

Arrangements had been made, and with the help of some magic (Christmas _is_ a magical time of year, after all), multiple of the animals had been shrunk. Nobody knew how, but all of them found themselves no bigger than Julie or Nathan. "This is still no fun!" Gupta exclaimed. He had decided he didn't like heights. At all. It made him dizzy and nervous and sick to his stomach.

"Oh r'lax!" Raz said, though she looked a little queasy herself from her place in Lalli's pouch. She was used to being bounced around, but not like this. All the jerky movement was upsetting her stomach. She was beginning to regret eating all those sweets earlier. It was definitely coming back to haunt her.

"Whatsa matt'ah Raz?" Tadao asked. "Airsick?"

"Shu'up..." She muttered miserably, sequestering down into her mothers pouch. She almost thought she'd rather have hopped home.

Santa made sure to drop them off before heading around the world. He didn't want anyone getting sick all over the presents.

After awhile, the sleigh stopped momentarily. They all gladly tumbled out onto the ground, instantly growing back to normal size, a couple running off to go be sick in the nearby brush.

Silas smiled as he fluttered down to the ground, feeling the familiar grass touch his webbed feet. There was the flapping off wings, and his parents landed beside him, each putting a wing around their chick, the other around one another, forming a family group hug.

He couldn't stifle a sudden yawn, and Denisha chuckled lightly. "Come on, my dear. It's way past your nest time." She suddenly winced and put a wing on her abdomen. It appeared the holly berry poison was still present in her system.

They went to leave, but before they could go, Flynn bounced up. "Hey Silas! Did you ever figure out what you wanted for Chrissy-mas?"

His grayish blue eyes widened. No, he hadn't! Oh dear… "No matter, sweet love." His mother spoke up upon seeing his worried face, giving him an affectionate nudge. "Santa knows. Even if you do not. Now come along." And the three avians took flight.

They lived on the far most section of the forest, on one of the tallest trees, in a carefully woven nest. While their kind usually lived on rocky coasts, the couple had been forced to flee because of a terrible flood caused by… well, unknown forces. There was a rumor a bunch of ice had melted just about everywhere, and that could possibly be the cause. Who knew?

As they landed, Denisha gingerly touched her abdomen yet again. She gave Andre a look, and he understood. He sighed heavily, nervous. How in the world would this blow over…

"Silas? Dear, it's time for you to sleep." The _still_ slightly fluffy chick (they had no idea why), obediently came and settled next to his mother, who draped a wing over him and carefully picked at his feathers a little, grooming them.

"Mommy?" he yawned, eyes getting heavy.

"Yes?"

"Will you tell me a story? About _Noel_?"

She smiled kindly down at him. Andre settled near. "Of course."

He snuggled up against her side and prepared to listen. "Once… there was a _petite_ _garcon, _about your age." She began. "And he loved _Noel_ more than anything else-"

"More than his parents?!" he yelped.

She chuckled. "Except his parents."

He sighed. "Oh, good."

"Anyway, this little boy, one year, couldn't decide what he wanted."

"What happened."

"Patience, my sweet. You see, many of his friends had many, many brothers and sisters. He got a bit lonely sometimes when they couldn't play. So... do you know what his parents gave him?"

"What?"

"A baby sister. So he always had someone to play with."

"Cool…" he breathed in amazement, snuggling into her side and suppressing a yawn. "Sometimes I wish I had a little _frere_ or _soeur_."

They both chuckled nervously. "Well…"

He managed to lift his heavy eyes a little further. "What?"

Denisha took a deep breath. While it was true she'd been having abdominal pains from accidentally eating a holly berry, it was also something else.

"We're having another chick."

**SURPRISE! Sorry, just couldn't resist.**

**Review please!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey, I'm back! Again. Oh, and a surprise for NyanCat13 in here!**

**Enjoy! Still on a roll!**

When Gupta arrived back at their burrow, the first thing he did was fly into his sisters arms. She, startled and unexpecting, took a moment to process the situation before fiercely hugging her brother back. "Oh Gupta! I'm so happy to see you!" she practically shrieked.

"Me too!" he smiled widely up at her. "Oh! I brought you something!" he turned and ran to grab something by the door. It was wrapped in a large leaf, topped with a bow made of a flowering vine. She hesitantly took it off, and it unraveled to reveal a huge purple plum, glimmering silver.

"A sugar plum!" she hugged him again. "Oh sweetie, thank you!"

He hugged back. "You're welcome." He suddenly yawned widely, and she smiled.

"C'mon squirt. I'll tuck you in." he grabbed her hand as she led him to his room. It felt like forever since he'd been there; seeing his bed along the back wall, and the right wall full of little hand dug cubbies to put anything cool he might find.

He laid down, and she put the blanket over him. As she did so, he suddenly sat bolt upright and put his arms around her neck. "Love you Krissy."

She smiled and hugged back. "Love you too." He kissed her on the cheek, and she gave him a gentle cuddle. "Now go to sleep. Or Santa won't come by with your presents." He laughed sleepily, eyes slipping closed.

Krishna smiled, bending down to kiss his forehead. "I love you sweetie." She stroked his cheek lovingly for a moment. "More than you'll ever know." And she too, went to bed, but not before hugging all her sisters and parents hello, so glad they were home for Christmas.

-Morning-

Raz grinned slyly as she crept up to her brothers, keeping her hopping steps as quiet as possible. They all had a general sleeping spot along the sides of their cave.

She slapped both paws over her mouth to stifle a joyful giggle. She suck in a deep breath, and… "WAKE UP!" the noise echoed off the walls, her whole family yelped in surprise, leaping up, eyes wide.

The purple joey nearly collapsed laughing, but instead bounced up to her parents. "Come on come!" she chanted. "Santa's been here! Santa's been here! C'mon! Les' go! C'mon!"

Jemal rubbed his blue eyes and bent down to pick up the wiggling child, who was twitching, jittery with excitement. "Aw Raz… iss' earl'eh? Can' weh jus sleep a lil-"

"NO!" she yelled excitedly, squirming to get down. "Come on! Santa came! Les' open presents! Come on come on come on _come_ _on_!" she squealed. He thought it better to sit her down before she _fell_ down and started to cry. Having had a change of heart, the boys had vowed never to purposefully make their sister cry again, and do all in their power to keep her from doing so. A sister like her didn't deserve to cry.

So the still sleepy adults and teenagers let the hyper little five year old usher them outside, yelling whenever she thought they thought they were going to slow. Which was pretty much every step until they made it to the presents in the middle of the valley. It was huge, much taller than any of them, about eleven feet. "_Wow_…" the kids shared wide eyed glances. "DIVE!" they all leapt for the presents and instantly disappeared in the peppermint wrapping and holly bows within seconds.

The teens shrugged (even Krishna, who was feeling one hundred percent better). "Oh what the heck?" and they were burrowing through the gifts as well. The parents laughed as they watched them. They were so glad their kids got along now. Almost losing a younger sibling forever can change someone.

Inside somewhere, someone gasped. "Hey look!" Raz's voice cried, and she appeared at the top, pushing presents off the top. After a moment, the reason for her excitement was revealed.

Five long sticks all tie to a tightly woven net of vines, in a circle. It had a tag with her name. "Mah trampoline! Yes!" she pumped a fist and clambered a top to see how it worked. Within seconds, she was bouncing as high as she could, almost touching the treetops. "Best!" _bounce_. "Christmas!" _bounce_. "_EVER_!"

"Raz!" Blayke called up. "Be careful before ye-"

"WOAH!" too late. Lalli screamed and grasped the side of her head as her daughter plummeted toward the ground at an alarming speed.

Raz was sure she'd be flattened, but at the last second, a blur of white flew by and caught the joey mid air. She uncovered her eyes and looked up at her savoir… and promptly froze in terror. It was a teenaged saber, with white fur, shining, intelligent green eyes, and two strange green seashells clipped on her ears. She had her by the scruff, giving her an almost smug look, one brow quirked.

She shook a little, thinking she might be part of her Christmas dinner.

However, surprisingly, she gently put her down and patted her head. She was too terrified to even move, and had no choice but to except it. "There ya go." Her voice was smooth and friendly, giving her a smile that was somehow calming, but her fangs also made it look a little threatening. "That woulda hurt if ya hit the ground, huh?"

She nodded stiffly, still scared out of her wits. "Oh relax squirt. I'm not gonna eat ya."

She gulped audibly. "R-R-Realla?"

"Course not. We might be predators, but even _I_ wouldn't eat a little kid."

She began to hop away backwards. She felt a pair of arms snatch her off the ground, but her gaze remained glued to the deadly predator. What in the world was she doing here?

"Do you… have a pack?" Julie managed to speak, trembling all over so hard it was making Squint, who she was holding, vibrate.

"Uh… yes and no."

"Uh…"

"We just moved here. Got my mom, dad, sister-"

"Mom and dad?!" all the adults yelled. If a teenager saber was dangerous (and they _were_) adults were extremely so!

"Don't worry, we leave to hunt. You mind us staying here?"

Nobody got a chance to answer, however, as the unnamed saber was suddenly knocked off her feet by a considerably smaller white blur. It turned out to be another saber, with black stripes fanning down her back. "Hi!" she chirped, purring, nuzzling her sister as she sat on her stomach.

The other one forced a smile. "Hi Shira."

**And… done! No, not the story. Just this chapter. Hope you guys don't mind me bringing her in. I just had a hard time believing they'd all be friends from the beginning, what with them being predators and all.**

**Review please!**

**And yes, don't worry. I will get to more details about the new baby, just be patient. Question, should I include him/hatching in this story, or have that be like a separate one shot? Just a thought, tell me your vote.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Still on another roll! Tell me what you think!**

**I think I might do a poll… check the bottom for reference.**

After the teenage saber, introduced as Shila, left her sister their to get herself acquainted, the parents felt much more at ease. This was just a tiny cub no older than any of their children, she couldn't be that much of a threat. And she'd surely have trouble taking down a kill being so small; nobody would be surprised if she'd even started learning.

Shira felt kind of nervous. She'd never really been around kids her age. They peered at her curiously on the ground in front of their parents, heads cocked and watching her. "So… yer not gonna eat us, right?" the rabbit asked bluntly and with a bit of distaste. He didn't trust her already.

She shook her head, making her new blue earrings, which she had gotten only that morning, jingle and sway. "Nope. I…" she looked shyly at the ground. "I Don't even know howta hunt yet. Mom and dad won't teach me." She looked very sad, so Raz spoke up. Nobody should be sad on Christmas, of all days!

"So? Jus' means yer mum an dad don' wantcha hurtin yerself." Lalli and Blayke shared exasperated looks. Why couldn't she have that kind of attitude when they forbid _her_ from doing potentially dangerous things?

She smiled up at the little joey, who her mother had tucked in her pouch for safety. Just in case.

Raz squirmed out and landed with a generous amount of balance for one so young, but still stumbled a little. "So… didja op'n yer press'ens yet?"

She perked up. "Yep!"

"Mum?" she tugged at her mothers fingers. "Can weh play wi' er. Please?" the adults shared nervous looks.

"Well…" they gave them all such adorably pleading looks they couldn't help but cave. "Alrigh. Bu' no goin over ta 'er cave till we meet 'er par'nts. An' finish op'nin yer presents."

"Oh right!" after all the gifts had been ripped into, the kids ran off to play with their new friend. They showed her around, allowing Silas to stop at his nest real quick. He'd awoken to a pearly, silvery oval-ish sphere that morning, an egg that would soon hatch into his baby brother or sister. Gunner climbed up to get a look, but the others were left wondering. Silas wasn't allowed to touch it. Not yet.

He couldn't wait to meet his new sibling. When he asked when it would watch, his parents just smiled and said "Soon enough." Which just left him wondering more.

The kids introduced her to their siblings, who found she was actually a polite, sweet girl. She wouldn't hurt even the tiniest mouse, it seemed.

It was near dinner time, while the kids were gorging happily on their newly brought candy, sitting up against a tree, when something appeared behind them. A shadow loomed over the small group, and they turned slowly. The seven herbivores jumped back, yelping in fear and surprise.

A huge female saber stood there, surveying them with a cool expression. She had generally the same pelt as Shira, her facial stripes showing the most difference, with icy blue eyes. She had two electric purple shells clipped on her left ear. Was that like a tradition in their family…

Shira jumped up and padded up, rubbing her head against her front leg, right near her ankle, purring. "Hi mom." She greeted.

Her mother, Shika, gave her a lick on the cheek. "Hey sweetie. These your friends?"

She nodded eagerly. "Yep!"

"That's good. I'm glad you found someone your age." She nodded at them kindly, knowing they were probably intimidated. "Anyway" she looked down at her daughter. "It's time to go home. Your father brought your favorite."

"Gazelle!" she cried happily.

Shika chuckled. "Yep. Now say goodbye to your new friends."

"Bye guys!" she bounded up, still hyper off the sugar candy, and gave Raz, who she had decided was her new best friend, a nudge. "See ya tomorrow!"

"Bye bye!"

"See ya!"

"Bye Sheila!" they all waved, except for one. Then a bunch of voices started calling them home to supper and then, bed.

Squint sulked angrily as Crystal escorted him back, not wanting him to get lost. Lightning (the loyal little firefly had somehow found him again after they were accidentally left at the North Pole), perched on his shoulder, squeaked in question. He looked… mad. And very unhappy.

Squint didn't like Shira. She just showed up and suddenly bam, she's part of their group. He didn't want to make room for a new kid; it had always been just them! The group of seven best friends! No extras, none short. They were always there, right next to each other.

When Raz got strep throat about a week and a half, they'd sneak visits to her every now and then, at least once a day; Lalli allowed it once she saw how happy it made her, but they had to act subtle when leaving the gazes of their parents. The same with when Gupta got the flu and was stuck in bed for two weeks.

He remembered when he's tripped and twisted his ankle; he hadn't been able to walk for _three_ _weeks_ (nearly drove him crazy), but his friends spent every day with him, keeping his mind off his injury.

They always had each others back. When they were sick, hurt, or just upset. All the time, every time when they needed one another, they were there. They had a special bond, and that new saber was trying to break all that!

She didn't belong here. Plain and simple.

Crystal noticed his look. "What's wrong sweetie?"

He sighed. "I don't like Shira."

"Well why not? She seems ok."

"Oh not you too!" he groaned. "She's tryin ta ruin our friendship! I don't like her!"

"Have you given her a chance?"

He chose not to answer that question. "She's ruining everything Crystal! I wish she'd go away."

"Oh Squint…" the sixteen year old picked up her brother. "Are you getting _jealous_?" she grinned teasingly as a furious look crossed his face.

"No!" him? Jealous of a saber? Ridiculous! "I just don't like her."

Crystal chuckled as they neared their home entrance. "Ok. Whatever you say."

**So, whatja think? Nice? Anyway, I'm thinking about doing a poll about Silas' baby brother or sister. Should I? Or should I just take a vote on here?**

**Oh, and 'Shila' is 'Shill-a' and 'Shika' is like 'Shee-ka'. Just thought I'd mention that.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm sorry this is kinda short, but big surprise here. Betcha can guess what it is.**

**Oh, and another thing. If you haven't read laughs4life's story 'A Ragtag Bunch' you're seriously missing out. Go do yourself a favor and read it.**

**Enjoy!**

**And I don't own Ice age**

Christmas came and went. The kids grew closer (although Squint still didn't like Shira), and waited anxiously to meet Silas' new baby brother or sister. But they were disappointed every day for about two weeks.

One day, while his parents were out to get more nesting material, as the chick was to hatch any day now and would need extra padding, they left Silas to babysit. Or… eggsit, he supposed.

He watched the little sphere boredly. It just sat there, like a rock. While he was very excited to have a baby sibling, waiting was boring and agitating. What bothered him most, though, was that his parents had waited till the day before to tell him. The egg had, apparently, been forming in his mother for some time. They figured it would make a nice Christmas surprise, and it was. But it was also very unexpected. The least they could have done was tell him a little in advance, he reasoned.

As he gazed out across the valley, watching his playing friends wistfully, a slight thumping sound distracted him from his thoughts. At first he ignored it, figuring it was one of those hummingbirds accidentally hitting a branch because of their speed (it wouldn't be the first time), but then, it came again, followed by a cracking sound. He simply brushed that off as the cracking of branches; it was winter and the tree twigs were brittle, they broke all the time.

But suddenly, it came a lot louder and seemingly… below him. He turned and found, to his utter shock, fear, and joy, a large crack in the whitish pearl nestled in some leaves and cotton.

It was jumping around slightly, quivering and trembling, little hairline fractures spreading out from the large, half inch crack. He stood stock still, stunned. Could this really be happening? Or was he dreaming? It seemed too real, however, to be a dream, so he simply stood and watched.

After a little more bumping and cracking, the first piece fell. A tiny, itty bitty wailing, chirping cry rang from inside, and more pieces began to fall, until it all just fell apart in a puzzle of pieces.

It revealed a teeny little white and black chick, just opening the biggest, bluest eyes he had ever seen. They blinked sleepily once, twice… then began to well up and spill over with tears, frightened at the large, seemingly empty space.

He slowly padded over and bent over to nudge his new sibling comfortingly. It gave a curious coo and sniffled slightly, and the tears soon stopped flowing. He watched in awe as it managed to hoist up to it's tiny, webbed aquamarine feet and flap it's tiny wings a few times, ruffling it's downy feathers before managing to wobble two steps closer, and he reflexively stuck out his foot to catch it as it fell forward. It's feathers were already drying, fluffing and puffing out so it looked like a big ball of fluff with eyes.

He watched in amazement as the tiny child, barely an inch long, snuggled up against his ankle, yawning and sighing happily, settling in for what he could only assume to be sleep, folding it's wing. He smiled softly after a moment and settled down beside the chick, putting a protective wing over it. It rubbed lovingly against him, chirping feebly.

"Aw…" he couldn't help but admit, this little thing was adorable.

It was then he realized he didn't know what _it_ was, but decided to let his parents figure it out, all though he had a sneaking suspicion it was a girl. "I'm gonna call you Zaida. Do you like that?"

'She' gurgled, as if in agreement, before letting out a tiny yawn and snuggling closer, practically disappeared in his feathers. He hugged 'her' closer, laying his head under his wing and placing it over his new sibling.

-Later-

He didn't remember falling asleep, but he definitely wouldn't be able to forget waking up. Both his parents had screamed in terror, making him jerk awake and 'Zaida' cheep fearfully as she was awoken.

"The- The baby!" Denisha still hadn't noticed the tiny ball off fluffy, albeit slightly squished, feathers. "Where- where's the baby?!"

"Right here." He opened his wings to allow them to catch sight of the quieting chick as she noticed the two larger birds, warbling curiously. She had her mothers blue eyes, her fathers snowy feathers, and her own unique feet color.

"Oh my goodness…" Denisha crept closer and caressed her newest baby.

Her husband nodded in dazed agreement. "What a beautiful little…"

Also realizing this, Denisha picked up the little one and quickly determined that it was, indeed, a baby girl. Silas was happy; he rather liked the name he'd chosen.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Can… Can we call her Zaida?"

"Zaida…" she tried it out, it did sound lovely, beautiful and pure. "Zaida." She said a bit more firmly. "I rather like that name. What about you dear." Andre was too entranced by his beautiful new daughter to speak, only nodded dazedly as he laid a wing on her head, causing her to giggle.

Then she yawned again and decided to continue her interrupted nap in her mother's hold.

Silas hurried off after that to find his friends and alert his friends. They and their families were ecstatic to meet the new little one, and most in fact spent the rest of the day cooing at her cuteness and holding her. But whenever she felt too crowded, she'd toddle to her brother, and he'd pick her up and cuddle her. Never her mother or father, but her brother. She was truly going to grow up a 'big brothers girl'.

Silas smiled as he watched the sunset from his nest and carefully wrapped a dull eyes Zaida in a leaf blanket, who was sitting before him and gazing at the pretty sky.

He picked her up and laid her in her personal area; a boxed in area made by extra sticks and filled with cushy cotton. "Goodnight Zaida." He said as she snuggled into her blankets. "Love you."

He sighed happily again and turned back to the sky. This truly had been the best holiday, and _Christmas_, ever.

**I'm sad to say this is the end, but I'm thinking I may do some more holiday stories. Or, maybe, a one shot about someone's first lose tooth. Sorry, just a thought. Tell me what you think, I'll do any holiday, as long as it has enough, you know, traditions or legends or something to go off of. So… any ideas?**

**Did you like this one? Did you like the new baby? Should I continue on with her and the others? You don't think I took this too fast, do you? Anyway, please review.**


End file.
